TB or not to be!!

TB or not to be: MDR TB going to be the new face of TB epidemic in India?

“You can't connect the dots looking forward you can only connect them looking backwards”- Steve Jobs

I would sound a bit like Steve Jobs here as I recount my delving into TB research way back in 1998 for doctoral work when India was transitioning to Revised National Tuberculosis Programme with DOTS. Little did I know then how I was paving my way into public health research and one day with this research experience combined with my training in Medical Anthropology will make so much sense in the domain of TB control in India, especially when we are talking about a muti-cultural country with medical pluralism and a disease like TB which has a long treatment period which leads to patients consult multiple practitioners leading to treatment default or mixing different lines of treatment leading to delayed or poor diagnosis, and treatment failure. This is a perfect area to marry Medical Anthropology and Public Health with doctor shopping among patients, unregulated use (abuse) of antibiotics, and making a case for lack of uniform regime across medical fraternity.

Indeed, it did make sense that afternoon when I was introduced to this professor from that University all the way from the States who was visiting my institute to establish collaboration in TB research in India. I know what I said to her that afternoon and I was also quite conscious of my passionate anecdotes and I constantly balanced the researcher and the advocate in me. We discussed the issues of MDR, issues of rampant use of antibiotics and consequences of non-regularised over the counter sale of antibiotics and the whole pros and cons in India and South Africa. Later, reading her blog, which she wrote two days before our meeting in Gurgaon, I am more at ease with my passionate ramblings as she had echoed the similar concerns.

With this new demon of MDR looming large, she plans to work on datasets (large ones, of course) and I plan to look at treatment pathways (retrospective) and combine our work to throw some light on this problem and create policy recommendation for MDR-TB in Indian setting. Joining dots would help us see some pattern in this juggernaut of a problem like MDR, hopefully!

I am the "Hallucination"!

In the dim light, under the moonlight, between all those hushed voice there was some warmth spreading between the two of us as we slowly warmed up with each other in our embrace, in our naked ness. Well, we were together in friendly, yet passionate cuddle and there was some kinda natural bent to it – no, it wasn’t as if we were trying hard, it was smooth, it flowed well. It was rather uncanny. It was rather unreal. But maybe that’s how adults try to know each other. May be that’s how it get started. May be it was none of that. As he often says ‘there is no…..’ ! Well, point taken!

For her it’s like a dream. It’s truly a dream and she kept pinching and pinched hard. For her it was real and she is quite stirred by the incident, something like a whirlwind. Indeed, he is like a whirlwind - he is real, he is big and he is there in front of you and he is all yours in kisses and tears, in sweet murmurs and then the next moment, he is that icon people look up to, he is in public domain and he is gone away from you! And you stay surprised by that whirlwind of a person who is a master in taming whirlwind in real life!

“he will be tall, very tall, well-built and he won’t be from your profession. And when you meet him, you will know for yourself”

Ah! as if I am recounting à la "Ketut" that Balinese medicine man in ‘Eat-Pray-Love’. It’s lovely to think that way, if pretty woman like Julia Roberts had to go through it, I am quite a game! Well, life isn’t a movie….but, wait, isn’t that life actually inspire those movies? Hmmm…..

But as humans, we all live in our own world of make-believe. I am one dreamer and I like to dream and I believe dreams do come true. Well, that’s about how I am….

He is one nice, down to earth person which is incredible despite all the adulation he is showered every day. He is indeed an epitome of success – if at all he approves that word. He is an achiever we would like to read about and listen to and narrate to our grandchildren. He is full of grey matter and quite charming at that – and these qualities he is very aware about himself.

She indeed was surprised and could not believe her eyes/ears when she met him. She is one hell of an independent woman, living by herself, setting her own standard in work and life, in her own little way. She is happy to see what life has brought to her, she is surprised to see how difficult it is to be a woman in this man’s world, when her chips are down and things are downhill she likes to think all this liberal ideas and feminism are bullshit and lucky are those women who stay at home and remain under their men’s shadow, she quarrels about hypocritical ways of society with her parents who encouraged her to be what she is today – an alpha fe-male! (of sorts)

He is honest and admits he is rude and arrogant when you stop by to tell him that. He walks like the boy next door in your neighborhood and doesn’t throw any tantrum when you don’t usher him in. He doesn’t have the need to bask in glory all the time, she thinks. He is prolly bored of all the awards and all the pep-talk he does far and wide – she conjures. He does not show any displeasure when she panics and she watches him walk into the twilight - she is lovelorn, but he is miffed and she is heartbroken.

She has a tiny little woman in her, and she realizes her womanly desires, her womanly charm and that façade of hers which she often hides. Though she enjoys that side of her and she knows how vulnerable she feels when that façade tries to peep out, as if she loses control. She did lose control and panicked. Hmm….

Well, we all are many layers deep and despite our layers and colors there is a basic tint that you portray and that’s what impacts the other. She likes simple things in life as it is easy to sustain, easy to hold on to. She loves little tears of joy and those weak vulnerable moments even though her mind must be racing to argue that colleague who questioned her research methodology. She wears a strong façade and underneath there is a soft innocent core to be loved, cuddled and fondled.

In their many layers, they will know each other and there will be a world of their own ‘make-believe’ which they will create. A world complex yet simple, rosy yet dark, hard yet soft and in the game of long and short they will find joy and laughter.

Yes, dreams they are and dreams do come true!! And you will know when you see it! And it is real and ‘there is no’ Hallucination! And there was moonlight and it was a full moon that night!

all-WRITE!

Hello there! I kept my promise to write again, to start writing again and writing more regularly and I am back with a bang. Now I have this new Evernote on my comp and I am using it to the hilt.


I plan to draft my thoughts everyday here. Earlier, I used to use a blog, and I was quite regular with it. It was between 2007-11 and slowly I dont see me doing it regularly despite giving much thought about it. I started discussing my old blogposts on FaceBook - thinking it will create interest among my friends and in turn would inspire to write again. Well, that was just some kind of thinking.


But I guess, the fact I write well is quite well known to me and that I want to write big is quite tempting to ignore this writing streak totally. So, another time, I started to write - pen on paper, not in regular intervals but in bouts, to pour my thoughts more like some inspirational notes to me. And I have some well scribbled notes to read on dated between 2012-13.


Now the plan is, I will write here. I will put these up on blog sometimes, depending on the content - if too personal then it stays here just to me on my comp as posts to re-read at another time to reminisce how I thought through or how I coped through the time etc.


And the plan is to write at least full 2-3 pages everyday - to start with just some mundane stuff, to unpack all those tangled wires in my brain, to be able to think clear, to feel creative, to unleash creativity. Does it happen to you - that once you start writing and start to pour out your initial thoughts, there comes that huge bout of creative energy from nowhere and you just keep tapping on the keyboard endlessly resulting free flowing write up? It happens to me, I have seen this in me that most of my writing - I mean writing on 'blog' (and not technical/scientific writing I do professionally) is quite driven by that uncertain something, that unplanned something that I have any control on. I quite like that kinda thing in me, that spontaneity, that creativity and that mood especially - as if I am possessed and there is a certain high! Do you relate to this?


You know, somewhere I am unabashedly aware about me, my tendencies and I quite see the way I think, why I think, my pluses and my minuses, and those shallowness I portray in my writings or those deep thoughts. So, I write not to please anyone, or to impress any soul but to unleash this soulful creativity I possess, which I feel I must nurture. I also see this pouring out as a therapeutic pursuit, a way to grow, mature and to reflect. Its very important for me to point fingers at me more often I can, to be aware and to improve and be enlightened.


So, making a new start, a humble beginning all over again. I sincerely hope this will be continued in regular fervor, rigor and and and......well, I will be back soon!

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.

One hell of a BITCH :-)

This is from one of those forwarded emails and I just couldnt stop laughing :-)
Well, here's something to all the super-duper bitches in this world (including moi!)
And btw, I like the second abbreviation the most, I like, I like :-)

"When I stand up for
Myself and my beliefs,
They call me a
Bitch.

When I stand up for
Those I love,
They call me a
Bitch.

When I speak my mind, think my own thoughts
Or do things my own way, they call me a
Bitch.

Being a bitch
Means I won't
Compromise what's
In my heart.
It means I live my life MY way.
It means I won't allow anyone to step on me.

When I refuse to
Tolerate injustice and
Speak against it, I am
Defined as a
bitch.

The same thing happens when I take time for
myself instead of being everyone's maid, or when I act a little selfish.

It means I have the courage and strength to allow myself to be who I truly am and won't become anyone else's idea of what they think I 'should' be...

I am outspoken, opinionated and determined. I want what I want and there is nothing wrong with that!
So try to stomp on me, just try to douse my inner flame, try to squash every ounce of beauty I hold within me.
You won't succeed.

And if that makes me a bitch ,so be it.
I embrace the title and am proud to bear it.

B - Babe
I - In
T - Total
C - Control of
H - Herself

B = Beautiful
I = Intelligent
T = Talented
C = Charming
H = Hell of a Woman

B = Beautiful
I = Individual
T = That
C = Can
H = Handle 'anything'"

Its about Everything....

Everything by Alanis Morissette

I can be an asshole of the grandest kind
I can withhold like it’s going out of style
I can be the moodiest baby and you’ve never met anyone
who is as negative as I am sometimes

I am the wisest woman you've ever met.
I am the kindest soul with whom you've connected.
I have the bravest heart that you've ever seen
And you've never met anyone
Who's as positive as I am sometimes.

You see everything, you see every part
You see all my light and you love my dark
You dig everything of which I'm ashamed
There's not anything to which you can’t relate
And you’re still here

I blame everyone else, not my own partaking
My passive-aggressiveness can be devastating
I'm terrified and mistrusting
And you’ve never met anyone as,
As closed down as I am sometimes.

You see everything, you see every part
You see all my light and you love my dark
You dig everything of which I'm ashamed
There's not anything to which you can’t relate
And you’re still here

What I resist, persists, and speaks louder than I know
What I resist, you love, no matter how low or high I go

I'm the funniest woman you've ever known.
I am the dullest woman you've ever known.
I'm the most gorgeous woman you've ever known
And you've never met anyone as, as everything as I am sometimes.

You see everything, you see every part
You see all my light and you love my dark
You dig everything of which I'm ashamed
There's not anything to which you can’t relate
And you’re still here

And you’re still here
And you're still here...

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…..

Quote-Unquote

"Life is short, break the rules, forgive quickly, kiss slowly, love truly, laugh uncontrollably, and never regret anything that made you smile."

Feelin' light.....

"Introspection is the self-observation and reporting of conscious inner thoughts, desires and sensations. It is a conscious mental and usually purposive process relying on thinking, reasoning, and examining one's own thoughts, feelings, and, in more spiritual cases, one's soul." Feelin' good...Happy that I did this today (wide grin)

the air around me :-)

Love air in my hair….umm…I love it when cool breeze plays with my unruly locks…..I like it when its disheveled, just out of bed. Well, that’s my look actually…I have a real nice, low-maintenance look and I don’t even need a comb! This hairdo just sits so perfectly on me, err suits me so well, every time, all the time, while on vacation, while I am at work, after shower and even on a bad hair day!

Don’t know why of all topics I am talking about hair….well, loved air in my hair this morning, while seeping some nice Darjeeling tea in my balcony. Yeah, spring is here….

Yes, I know why I am talking about my hair. Because, just the other day a certain colleague commented on my hair and I kinda didn’t understand whether she was complimenting or being sarcastic. If I corroborate the conversion it almost could sound ‘why don’t your hair fall?’ (smirk!) Well, I offer benefit of doubt and move on thinking probably she is envious of my lush unruly locks and may be my hair is note-worthy. Hmm…I mean what else you could do in such a situation? Would you try showing her that your hair is glued on the scalp with some fancy gel? Ha ha ha….

Moving on…from hair to air…And talking about air, I do have an air about me. Well, we all have and it’s not a bad thing. I rather feel a certain air about yourself is really cool, it’s confidence building, it’s encouraging, it’s infectious. And it’s all how you play the air….'play the air'? well….read on….

Call me arrogant, call me difficult, and call me troublesome. I know one thing for sure, someone just could not topple me and probably all roughed up so hence such names. I don’t mind either. Call me whatever you may, I will care if you are worth paying attention to. And most times I get such names from people who either just found them in a sticky situation, who are unfair, who are unprofessional and trying to get through me, who are outright incompetent and trying to get into a logical conversation. Well, I don’t mind failing but I will never go down without a fight. I feel it’s my obligation to reason out, and show things the way it is. And I can be a tough nut despite such lush hair and real nice façade (wide grin)

I know it’s only when I give you a tight fight and you see red in the eye, you mouth such names. Well…

I love the air I wear, I love the way I am. Because I know I am walking straight, I am walking in all fairness and I am walking the walk I can walk. I do what I can, I never try to do more than I can do. I only do things what my pocket allows me, which I gracefully own. Thus I despise people who flaunt larger than life persona and forget to pay the bill at a fancy restaurant where they invite themselves. I pity such gluttons who only can fill their mouths with others money. I call such creatures a failure with all academic degrees they accumulate from around the globe when they are unmindful of courteous behavior. What is the point when you cannot think of spending a penny from your pocket for your travel and ask for change from the host at a housewarming get together? What is the point when you invite someone on her birthday and let her pay for the party? Such parasites are burden on this planet and it’s worthwhile if you know them at the earliest and weed away.

And end of the day, I could care less if such parasites call me names….as it’s not worth wasting time and energy on such non-worthy things. O’yeah, I really love the air I have about me, the air in my hair, and my hair looks great….and its gonna be like this for some more time. So, I can tell a certain someone that the wait’s gonna be long (wink)

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!!

On the "Face" of it.....

Lets face it, ok? Well, we have been facing these a lot these days and that's why I say, lets face it, huh?

It was an emotional moment that afternoon when she felt a pang in her heart as she typed " that was a time when we lived in the same neighborhood and met everyday in the class and then there was a time when we didnt have any news about each other and now here is another time when we are looking at each others pictures and chatting on FaceBook".

Once they were neighbors and they were best of friends and there wasnt a day when they never met each other except for those six weeks when her family would travel out of the city during summer vacations each year. Well, that was the time...

Now here is another time when he saw her picture first time ever, a photograph that is, when her name appeared on a common friend's friend list. Umm....things change, time changes, and looks change too....and wow, she looks different. Nice.

So on the face of it, its nice to be in touch with long lost friends and nice to see how old friends share notes, how friends are curious about life, how we keep moving in our lives and how we get into different paths when we had started together and how our paths cross when we have no idea where we started. Well.....

Nice, I am happy, things are moving, things are shaping up, things are making sense. And there was that smile, that happy smile that I love and I long for....

That afternoon, from within that music, from within that euphoria there was that moment which was so perfect, so unusual and yet so in-sync that everything felt normal. Yet it was different. Nice.

A song for you....

simplifying the complexity

Hmmm....I didnt think of visiting my blog today but someone had left a comment on an old post and that brought me here. Interesting, how I deviate from my plans, how I just put aside those dirty dishes on my kitchen sink and devote some time to my blog. Well, not that I dont like to write err blog...I rather like to be consistent about my writing as I nurture my dream to have my own book, a bestseller. People who read my blog tell me that I write well, that I kinda can weave things and its interesting. Recently my big brother went through my blog and read some of the posts and he even recommended me to start writing on a particular genre, I am glad, I am happy and these words of appreciation inspire me to write more, to create more, to weave more with my words. Yes, words...

Things are going crazy lately, life is so hectic that I am losing count of days and how its already mid November and I have no idea its just feels yesterday I was thinking about going to the mountains to beat the summer heat in Delhi. Hmmm, truly, time indeed flies...You know, you are lucky to get this feeling as this means things are going good...and you are going with the flow...I remember one friend saying this one day. Yes, I am grateful that things are all good, li'l hectic and tiring but its all good, as they say in NYC.

Talking about pace, speed, life's ongoing string of things, and in the midst of all these madness I sometimes think its good to have no format, no pattern and its fun to be spontaneous, and be there for that moment. Its good sometimes to have no plans...or the way the ultimate 'virgo' in me would put: its ok not to follow the plans! Well, I really dont know, whats good and what's not...as end of the day if I can flash that smile which you call bewitching, I am happy with that. If at the end of the day I can fall asleep next to you, I am happy with that. If at the end of the day that funny, non-descriptive curry I churn out in my new kitchen tastes like thousand bucks, I am happy. Actually, its really a simple thing to be happy in life and I dont know why people choose a complex route for happiness. Anyway....

May be I should be asking this to myself...as I sometimes become such an epitome of perfection that things go really rigid, really structured and my scheme of things do look like a fortress...as if I am that super warrior with a no-non sense air...hmmm...

Well, I am good as long as I take time to point fingers at myself. No one is perfect, you see....

Talking about complexities, I do get bit worked up when things are not so simple around me, when things are unclear, when things around you give you doubts, when things around you make you think twice. I am sure it doesnt give you a good feeling, when in one hand you expect a bunch of roses but you are poked with thorns. Who like to have such surprises? Not me at the least.

I know roses are enchanting, beautiful and so ethereal... but I would rather appreciate those lanky stems of tuberoses. I like things simple, things which are clear...things which dont confuse you. Well....thats how I have been leading my life and I have no complaints. Its been awesome so far, its been a great ride so far, as I call it 'awesome lonesome' and I am really fortunate to have it shaping up this way. I am glad, thankful, all humbled!

Pink cloud indeed...

"The key to happiness is good health and short memory", so said Ingrid Bergman.

Hmm...I wish it could be that way for me too as I reminisce about an afternoon, those clouded, oh-so-very dreamy moments, when you don't need your eyes as if you are blinded, when it was just about the feelings - how you feel inside, how those touch feel, how those moments feel....hmmm...

It was as if you were on those pink clouds, literally, feeling an awesome high where head feels so light as if you could fly, when things happen like a dream and you wonder whether its magic or destiny.

And in that dark room, in that haze it felt so heavenly, it felt so dreamy, it felt so romantic. It was so strikingly different from its surrounding when sun was blazing and shining bright outside, without an iota of any cloud, without any hint of pink, where honking vehicles pass by and you wake up from your dream as you walk back home.

That was lovely, those whispers, those murmurs, those unopened eyes and yet there was a beautiful conversation, in all awareness, in all life and blood, in all its passion and love.

Have you ever fed a baby who is half asleep? Its that kinda feeling and I liked my 'pink cloud' moments with a baby half awake half asleep that afternoon.

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....