Good Read

Photography by ME

The Beach

To celebrate New Year me and my family went to the beach. The beach was apparently someone's private so we had to take permission, which we did.
I would have talked about our journey to the beach and the road, but there was no road. The place was clearly met for hiking or cycling and the lazy people that we are, we took cars. So after a lot of jumps and scares and prayers we reached the beach.

It was just breath-taking. My back ached with our little adventure ride but the fresh air worked like a pain-killer. The beach was beyond beautiful. And since we came early (not as early as we had planned) it was empty.

I was at the beach with my family, drinking coconut water and eating fried prawns, this is what Andaman is all about. For the first time in many days I realized I was born in an island, and what a beautiful island it is. I walked across the beach just where the cool salty water met the warm sand, there were also small pebbles and broken shells that would often come under my feet and break the silence in my mind.

My eyes and feet scanned for the smoothest part but after every few steps the waves would leap towards the shore and while going back it would leave little stones under my feet. 
No matter how much I avoided those clutters of pebbles and shells , they moved with the water and kept coming under my feet.

And that is life, silky shore with a few stones scattered, you never know which step will be on the sand and which will be on the stone. But I must never stop walking because each step forward makes me feel alive.

Picture taken by me. Click to Enlarge.

Oh and by the way.... Happy New Year to you, finally 2012! Let's hope it's nothing like the movie.

Turning 20

Yesterday (12 Dec) I turned 20.

Yes, I am not a teenager anymore, so I guess it's time to stop being bratty? Probably not. Some people are ageless. 

Saying that, I would miss the advantages of being a teenager. I feel like it's easier to get things done when you are 19. 20 feels boring. I'll work on changing that. 

There is another event taking place at my house, a very important one and I feel deprived of attention I usually get. But of course, I can't always be in limelight. I am not Micheal Jackson. 

I told my family to not give me any gifts and donate the money towards charity. Obviously that did not work, I still got gifts. I realized even though I have become less 'materialistic' over the time, or just that my priorities are not my barbie dolls anymore, my parents have not grasped that idea yet. Not that they are materialistic, they are used to spoiling me. 

I have all that I need. If I needed more, I'll simply ask. 

The thing is, I am picky. If I don't like a gift, then I don't want it. I know! ' a gift is a gift' blah blah.  But I don't want it. That should count as something. 

And that's why I feel it's much better to invest that money for the good. It would have made someone very happy, could have changed someone's life. 

I told my mother, if you want me to do something for my happiness, join in my purpose. Help me spread some light and love around. I think she got it. 

Obviously, everyday should be so. But birthday's are just special, aren't they? 

Happy Halloween !

How I love Halloween!

Hope everyone is having a good time even if you don't celebrate it. Few years ago Halloween for me was just a Hollywood thing, until  I moved to U.K, and it was all real!

Some pictures to share (not related to Halloween)

And now one related to Halloween -

Made by me and my flat mate Kristy 

Click Click!

I did some random photography in my new room.

Drip Drop

I took these pictures few days ago with Sony DSLR A230, it is not my camera, i just borrowed it because i could not resist not clicking pictures in rain and i did not have my nikon with me. 

 PS : Please don't nick my pictures because i can and will sue you.

The Bird and The Bee........and The Dogs

I want to share this song that i have been loving, and honestly i haven't stopped playing it. I don't know how i never found this before, i am completely and absolutely in love with it.

Another thing i am loving  is this picture of my dog Inky. He is a stray dog, so no posh breeds here. Obviously me living in U.K. means we are not as close as i was with Astro(my first dog, a Japanese Spitz, died few years ago) But i love Inky anyway, I see little bit of Astro in him, they have the same aura you can say.

Inky

I have 2 more dogs, both are from the streets Boori, which in Hindi means brown....because she is brown in colour, i didn't name her. But i did name Inky and Boori's mother Bella, she really is 'bella'. I didn't choose the name Inky, it was my mom. I don't know who came up with Boori, if you think naming a dog on it's colour is weird, then what do u think of Pagla(which means Mental) another one of my dogs who passed away, he hit is head when he was born, he was kind of mentally challenged, so my someone in my family (not sure who) named him Pagla, he was a fighter though. 

 My family is not so creative with names as you can see.

About Boori - She is our size 0 model
no matter how much she eats she never gains weight.

About Bella - She is the oldest of all,
 mother of Inky and Boori,
the most generous of all too. Bella is no more with us. She was the protector, we miss her. 

Since they are strays, we don't ever keep them on leash, they are happy to roam about and then come back home. Inky sleeps on my dad's care, Bella is very protective of her family, when she barks, others follow. Our mailman actually never comes near our house because my dogs gang up on him. They can get scary, i'll be honest, sometimes even i am scared of them, but they are nice to me and why not, i am their Bread Lady!

Andamani reality show, really?

Picture taken with my blackberry

Recording studio in Andaman. This is where the magic happens.....O.K. it's small and dingy with some very nice people and a rude editor. My mom forced me to have a look since i am studying broadcasting in school, and i said i hate it. Anyway when i reached there they were shooting for Andamani singing reality show(imagine that!). A woman working there said they wanted to do something for the kids in Andaman. "They are talented but they never get a chance", she said.  Very nice, at least something is happening here. I heard a 12 year old girl sing "main karoon to sala character dila hai" from  Salman Khan's movie, i have never seen it, but i have heard the song...not very appropriate for a 12 year old girl. The judges stopped her in between and told her to sing some national songs, they were annoyed because 3 kids have already sang that song and they are getting sick of telling kids what to sing what not to sing, one of the producer looked at me and said "why are the parents sending them in competition with these songs, they should be prepared", i just nodded not knowing what was best to say then. Fair enough, she is way too young to sing all that.........or is she? Can we really decide whats appropriate for kids today? They seem to be going their own way. I can only thank that i'm not blessed with that burden yet.

Tulsi - The incomparable one

I took this picture in my garden almost  a year back, it's a flower of Tulsi plant(Sanskrit word which translates to 'the incomparable one'. I don't know if you know about it, but it's famous in India and i think South Asia in general for it's use in Ayurveda. A great remedy for cold, we also add a leaf or two with tea leaves, it has a lovely aroma and tastes so good! It is also a sacred plant in India and is worshiped by Hindus.
Sometimes when i stroll about in my garden i just pluck few leaves to chew on...and some rose petals, no wonder my Chinese zodiac is a goat. 

My initial days in U.K.

Rochester High St., England. Potography by me. click to enlarge

My first day in U.K.(27 Sept 2008) - I am with my parents. I am worried that they will embarrass me….I’m worried that I’ll embarrass myself…something stupid could easily happen. Maybe they won’t understand my accent…maybe they won’t understand my parents accen. They are way too polite here, you don’t know if they are actually happy to see you or not.

After few days - I am having fun. The weather is cold but tricky as soon as you walk under sun you feel warm, then you step under the shade and it’s cold. My mother bought a pink sock that she wears with salwar, I think it is the ugliest thing I have ever seen.

One day I was coming back from my college and I see my mother and father standing at the end of the road secretly taking my pictures, I have no idea how to react. So I just laugh and say that it’s annoying and not to spy on me.

My parents made friends with the owner of the B&B we were staying, and the cab driver we hired once, trust my dad to do something like that. I warn them not to get overly friendly with anyone, but I am glad they have people to talk to. My mother seems to love the tiny town of Rochester, and why not, it is lovely, I love how cozy it is.

My first day in college I get inside my class wearing blue jeans, my favorite pink floral top from Bangkok, white furry jacket and cute pink flats, I think it’s cute. I enter the room and see bunch of students dressed in black and grey and they are staring at me…there you go, I travelled from India to U.K. just to be the odd one out again.

My parents went back to India after 15 days and I got busy with college. I didn’t have many friends, but once I started talking a little, people didn’t seem so scary. I know they were reluctant to talk to me. Rochester is not a like London, they asked why I travelled so far just for college, they told me I must be rich, i told them i wanted to live outside my country and about the money they are sadly mistaken.

I felt I can survive this place, until this one girl with a dire need of a nose job came to me and said she couldn’t believe that I can speak such good English; I told her I did my schooling in English speaking Catholic school.

My initials days in Rochester were hard, and also kind of hazy, it was a whole new world to me and even though I felt I didn’t fit in, I never accepted the fact that I am home sick. I was the youngest in my halls, nobody else was 16. I stuck a poster on my wall saying ‘no smoking, no drinking and no noise after 9pm’, my flat mates hated me for it, and I don’t blame them. I kept fighting until I opened my eyes to see all I was doing was fighting myself, so I let it go and embraced everything new and crazy, I was smoking….and drinking not because of anyone else but because I wanted it, maybe it wasn’t a wise choice, but I was 16 and it seemed fun and it didn’t make me feel like I was a stuck up bitch judging people for their choices.

Random Clicks

just some random photography in the kitchen, while waiting for pasta to boil...

edited with picasa 3
click on the pictures to view in their original size. 

Roses and Rains

Blackout for almost 8 hours.....
whats a girl to do in a lonely island
specially when she is stuck with her mom (rolls eyes)
...................it was a beautiful evening tho
the rain and the breeze.....if not anyone..roses in my garden looked very happy
so i took out my camera and froze the moment :P

the dew on leaves...ripples made by raindrops..shining pebbles..

my mom and i were talking about the time when Japs hit on Andaman Island
bloody cruel.............
some of the most gruesome way to give death
like they use to tell men to dig holes and then bury them alive
or torture by pulling nails out and then shooting the person and not just once.

Why, why would anyone do that...for a piece of land..just so that someone can clean your house and make your tea?
how can people get so cruel...and then they actually believe there is a devil, besides themselves
where was the self consciousness ????????????????????????
no matter how much i keep on mumbling 'how can they do this?'
its done.....to be honest i fear for the murderer more than the victim
those who die..move on..to a better place ...those who stay, live in guilt
no wonder people back from war suffered so many mental disorder.......
there are so many things i wonder about...how can people just take lives....what if it were you son or your father
those who kill is are just plain murderers and nothing more than that....and as gross as they are...i still don't believe in death sentences
Why would u fall down like them?......

Port Blair's system is sucking life out of me...from peon to officers everyone takes bribe...and for what ?? oils?? making roads??
I mean common people...your son runs his bike on the same road...at least make it for him

Sometimes i feel so helpless, that all i could do is just ramble on this blog which barely 3 people read and then go back to sleep.
DUH !!!

Anyway,there is still some beauty left on earth....if not in human, atleast in roses and rains.