Bloggers and their types

I was suffering from a bloggers block :), which actually set me thinking on why people blog and if we can categorise the various types of blogs and their bloggers. So here goes my attempt.....

1) Personal Bloggers - These are the kinds who blog about their personal lives, its more like maintaining an online diary. They probably want to connect with their friends (with whom otherwise contact is difficult) or maybe its an outlet for their emotions. Maybe they find it easier to write about things than talk....

2) Information Bloggers - These are the boring people (like my husband...:) hehehe), who write to share information with others on various topics. This could be anything from Technology, tourism, travel, cameras and whatever else comes to our mind! This is where you go when you need good experienced views on various topics.

3) Random Bloggers - They just blog randomly on anything they can think of and feel like blogging about. They cover various things ranging from their personal life to their experiences to information to just anything as random as this blog!

4) Point of View bloggers - These are the kind of people who are critics/reviewers and like to express their views/opinions on books/movies/destinations/restaurants etc. Some of them are good reads to prepare yourself beforehand.

Well my block has kicked in again and I will stop here....if i can think of anything else will add to this list.

Do you have anything to add?

Friends....

No I am not going to talk about the series Friends (which btw is one of my favourite series). I am talking about friends who sometimes become closer than family, more than family and if you have spent time n hostels than perhaps your family.
From the time we start going to school (basically out of our parents' safe little nest), we meet a variety of people. And I am sure we keep meeting people forever.....
With some people we have an instant connection and you know that relation will last you a lifetime. And then there are some which start slow, grow and mature over time and then end up being a forever relation. There are people who you hate at sight and you know that is one which will never work out, and then you have people who are just good or okay friends.
They are with us when we need them the most, they listen to us when the whole world shuts out on us, believe in us when we cease to believe in ourselves, share our joys and sorrows and understand all our stupid little things in life. They are the people with who you can have the longest ocnversation and still have so much more to say; and the same people with who we can have hours of silence but still felt completely understood.
For me this is a relation which I cannot understand and at the same time perfectly understand! But all friends do not last forever, there are relations that we maintain for a long time and continue to maintain without breaks. But there also a few great friendships that fade over time, even though we want them to last. I do not know the reason for this maybe distance, maybe priorities in life, maybe time........ I really do not know. But I do know that it hurts, when someone with who you hav shared some beautiful moments in life, someone who understood you so well and more importantly when you thought that is a relation for keeps.
This is for all my friends....the ones who have stayed back, the ones who have moved on and to the ones who have stayed back and yet moved on......

Brick Lane - Strictly my viewpoint

I recently finished reading Brick Lane girl, by Monica Ali. The book is about a young Muslim girl Nazneen, from Bangladesh who gets married (at the age of 18) to an older man (around 36) and moves to London. Its a completely new life for her there and a new set of challenges and trials to face. Its a story about her acceptance of her fate, coming to terms with her life, the circumstances that lead her to change the way she is and for the first time make her stand up and take a decision for herself.
I felt that the book was a little slow paced and could not really capture my interest. For most part of the book Nazneen is the main protagonist but in the background and the shadow of the other characters (her husband, children, the doctor and the other ladies). I did not find any of the other characters interesting (maybe her sister a little bit) nor intriguing.
But Nazneen's character was quite interesting, she comes across as an intelligent observer. She is someone who remains in the background, lets people do most of the talking (whether its her husband on his literary trip or Mrs Islam crying on her never-ending illness). She reflects most of her intelligence in her observations of people and understanding/analysis of their behaviour and character. Its quite amazing how she never really complains about her life and husband to anyone. She just accepts everything.
But as you accept this quite docile creature and assume that her life would go on like this till the end.....in comes a sewing machine (!!!!) and of course the life changing Karim. This is when you realise Nazneen's strength as a woman, as the one who can take up charge of the house, earn a living for her household if the need be. You realise she has been quiet not due to lack of talent or the ability but just because that was the need of the hour probably. Finally she realises her dream, what her life is all about and what she and her children really need. The end is a bit surprising, but not at all disappointing (at least for me).
All in all, a decent read. Not very highly recommended but yes you can read it. The book has a lot more to offer in terms of the life of the Bangladeshis and their issues in London and also about religion. There is also a parallel story of her sister Hasina (through the letters she writes) and her mother. But what spoke to me most in the book is what I have written about.

Marriages.....cause for changes?

Marriages translate into a lot of changes (from what I have personally experienced and observed). You share your life with someone and with that come a lot of lifestyle changes. As if your own relatives are not enough, you get tagged with so many more others. God only knows how will be ever able to remember all of them :).

But these changes are something which come gradually and are very much acceptable. These are the kind of compromised and adjustments that happen with friends and roomies also. And they happen from both sides, so its ok.

The kind of change that bothers me a lot, is the drastic change that one partner goes through while the other just refuses to be a part of it. If you have watched SATC, I am talking about what Charlotte did. She was ready to give up her beliefs and her complete religion to convert and be with the man she loved. He refused to marry any girl unless she was a Jew, so Charlotte goes through all the pain of changing herself. I also remember a conversation in office about a colleagues cousin and his fiancee, where the fiancee was ready to have a Christian wedding but the groom refused to even come if there was a Hindu ceremony. And the lady was still ok to go ahead with the marriage and spend her life with that man.

The point being, while I understand that in love you make a lot of compromises,adjustments, etc etc; but changing your whole value system, beliefs, religion and everything you have grown up to be! Especially when the other person does not reciprocate the same (yes we are humans and give&take works everywhere and with everyone), is it really something that will last long? And does this whole change that you go through represent strength of character or weakness of your character?? For me its a very very easy foundatoin for any fight....I did this for you what did you do....

And giving up so much might be easy for sometime, but what about the long run. How do you go about bringing about your children and what do you teach them? Your old beliefs, new beliefs, someone else's beliefs.....

Do you have any answers..........

This one is for you guys.....

We were all of 18 (or maybe +/- 1), full of energy, youth and energy. There was the fear of the unknown but at the same time the there was the willingness to explore unchartered territories and take life full on!!
Most of us were out-of-home for the first time and naturally and extremely homesick. Some of us were very brave and some of us broke down very easily. We looked out around at everyone trying ot find the one person or persons whose kind face would probably bring us some relief or show some signs of empathy. Getting used to the seniors, the hostel food, the queues for the baths, etc was pretty new and harrowing. Every phone call from home was eagerly awaited, and every minute spent on it was probably the best part of the day.
Time passed by and we got accustomed to this new life. From the time when going home was a source of endless joy and coming back a not so nice experience, we reached a point when both journeys were looked forward to by the same enthu. We reached a stage when we missed each other when we went home and looked forward to receiveing letters (yes we used snail mail during that time!) and phone calls. In fact I still have those letters, and boy do I treasure them.
We became best friends, inseparable groups, who shared all their highs and lows of life, all our crushes and loves and hates, our dreams and nightmares. We knew each other inside out and we could not ever imagine knowing anyone any better.
We had changed...from the girls who cried when they first came to hostels to the girls who cried their hearts out when it was time to leave. Life without each other was not something that we had been prepared for. College taught us a lot of things, but not the pain of separation. Who could imagine life without midnight maggis, gossip sessions, dinners and lnches, midnight birthdays shopping, cooking, laughing together, crying, taking care, being taken care of.........and so many other things!!
We all came to college hoping for a good career and a successful life thereafter. Little did we know that whether or not we got that; we would definitely find a set of lifelong friends, who would stand by us forever. College taught us the value of friendship and the true meaning of being a friend!
Thank you SVR. And thank you very much all of you.....I do not know if I miss you more or love you more..!!!!!

Elections 2009

Elections, campaigning, EVMs, debates, parties, voting are the buzzwords of the day. The Indian Elections are back and how....

I am sure no other country has her emotions running so very high during election season. Fights are in the air so is mud-slinging, accusations and big promises. Will this elections bring about any change....well we can just vote, wait and watch.

I have been observing the whole hoopla going around -brought to us by the media. The only thing I heard all around is every politician (big or small, young or old, brand new or ancient) pulling every other politician down. Someone says 1984, the other comes back with 2002; some say anti-muslim some say communalism and the list goes on. Each one appeals for votes on basis of caste, religion or the likes. Even all the debates happening on TV, are around riots, terrorism, etc etc.

What I did not notice was any party talk about their concrete plans for development. Never heard any arm of the media trying to analyse a party's manifesto or trying to get the parties to talk about their plans for the country. No one presented any stats on the success or failure of any of the previous governments. This surprised me to quite an extent that none of the leaders wanted to discuss around things that really mattered, but rather concentrated on showing how the other party was undeserving.

When I had this discussion with Vikram, he just said one thing. Think why no one is talking about development or things that matter but about all the other things. Because that is what is getting them their votes. People are voting based on caste, religion and loyalties rather than voting for someone who can actually make a difference..........

That is something which I think is very true.........and does not really make me pleased.

Think about it too......isn't it time we voted for a change????

Long time no see....

Well....the title is for me. I have been away from blogs,facebook,orkut,general surfing...I guess you get the idea. I was away from my social networking world.
Health reasons kept me away, though I am much better now still trying not to strian myself.

Lots seems to have happened since I have been away. For one Pande seems to have updated her blog quite a bit, and with a lot of thought provoking ones. Well she has always been my thinker, philiospher and guide (for a long time now)! And even though I am not like her, I tend to agree a lot with her. :)

Election is in the air, with all the news channels, newspapers basically all media is obssessed. There only seem to be news about who abused who, who made a hate speech, who has how much black money (or i think assets or watever). Strangely do not hear much about who is going to help the country grow....hmm thats a thought!

The IPL is coming back, watched it the last season, hope to do the same this time. Roadies is coming to an end, Splitsvilla is getting boring this time.

Work is getting interesting and a little busy these days. But I'm loving it :)

And yes everyone seems to be getting pregnant.....its in the air or is it ;)

With that note and a complete set of random thoughts I close this blog. Hoping to be more regular now (as always)!

Udaipur - The City of Lakes??

We reached Udaipur at around 4:30 in the evening. We had already got ourselves a booking at the Lake Pichola hotel with a lake view room. I don't know about Vikram but I was expecting a spectacular room with an amazing view of the lake. Well the room was really nice but the view.....hmmm, well was quite disappointing :( . The lakes on the whole were quite a sad sight, as it has not rained for 2 years. And even otherwise I do not think the citizens or the Government is really concerned about the cleanliness of the lakes.

Since we did not have much time to cover the Palace or the other tourist spots. So we decided to go for the city tour, which was nothing great to talk about. Even if we had not seen those places there wasn't anything much we would have missed. If you do want to do the city sight-seeing, make sure you take an auto and bargain well. Do not take the taxis offered by the hotels, they turn out to be pretty expensive.

The next day was reserved for the Palace and the lakes. Again I was not very impressed with the sight-seeing, and the city did not seem to be very Indian-tourist friendly. There is no differential pricing in Udaipur for entry into the tourist location, but there definitely exists a differential treatment! You are expected to pay as much as the foreign tourists, but they do not like it when you can pay. So the overall experience left me wanting....

Before we took our train in the night for Jaipur, we went to visit the Monsoon Palace. The Palace again did not have anything, but its worth the visit if you make it in time for sunset (I guess even sunrise)! Since it is located at a height, it gives a complete view of the city and of course the sunset is a breathtaking view. Not wanting to miss our train again :), we reached the station well in advance, and thus ended our not so satisfactory tour of Udaipur.

Ranakpur - The land of the most beautiful temple!

We grabbed some lunch in Jodhpur, which was not as easy as it sounds! Some people will be able to explain better than me :)
We boarded a bus from Jodhpur till Ranakpur. Roads again were pretty decent, the bus journey was smooth. We started around 3 and reached by about 7:30 PM. Ranakpur was a very tiny sleepy town,actually I could not figure out where the town was! There was the Tourism Dept hotel, the bus stop (or at least what they called a bus stop) and the temple. But whatever little was there of it, was really nice. It is set among the valley of the Aravallis and would be surrounded by more greenery if it was raining i guess. But I just loved the peace and the quiet in that place. We checked in to the hotel, had some dinner and sat out in the open for sometime. It was bliss!

Next morning, we started out for the temple. We were told that though the temple opens at 10, no photography are allowed till 12 inside the temple. We thought we would check out the temple, and if it was worth photography would stay back or push off. But the moment we entered the temple....OMG......it was like WOW!!!! I would have stayed back till midnight if it was required for photography! Believe you me.....it was the most aswesome temple i have ever seen, the most marvellous piece of architecture ever, ever ever....And to think it was constructed around the 14th-15th century.
Inside the temple, time just flew past as we walked around admiring the intricate carvings on the marble temple. The Jain temple is dedicated to the first Tirthankara and has these numerous pillars which are marvellous and just so magnificient! I think I am going to run out of all adjectives in this post :)
This place is a must visit, and if you plan to visit make sure you reach the temple much before 12 PM. Once the clock strikes 12, busloads of tourists come here and that kinda spoils the charm of the place. Visit the place around 10, soak in the beauty, click photos at 12 and make a quick exit with beautiful memories and a peaceful mind.
After this fantastic trip, we got our luggage from the RTDC hotel and waited for the bus that would take us to the city of lakes or so we thought!!
P.S. On the way to Ranakpur we saw something that looked like a black buck!

The Desert City

pWe hit Jaisalmer around 9:30 PM and as we entered the city were chased by 2 bikes!! Someone should put a warning sign at the entrance saying "Beware:Touts out to get you" or Jaisalmer -The city of touts! :)
After managing to escape from them and grabbing some dinner, we decided to look for some place to stay the night. WE got second time lucky, when we found this place called Gorakh Haveli. Like most of the tourist places, you can bargain and get down the rates here too. The hotel was neat, big rooms, clean bathrooms with hot water. Had a good nights sleep and were ready to see the city in the morning.
The day started with breakfasting on the rooftop, and this is when I realised the desperation of the guys on the bikes. Every house in Jaisalmer is a hotel and every rooftop is a restaurant. With no other source of income and so much competition; I do not think they have much choice. Sad but true, I felt the charm of the place was lost beacause of excessive commercialisation.
We started our site seeing with the Havelis - Patwa and Nathmal. The former was really beautiful and well maintained, while the latter wasnt too great. But the most disappointing thing was the very badly maintained city roads with open drains flowing all around (you can see sewage flowing and it stinks like crazy). Kind of spoils the experience and makes you wonder why a place that survives on tourism would not want to maintain itself??
After the visit to the havelis, we went to see the famed fort. The fort kind of is visible from everywhere in the city, but the view does not remain as good coz of the constructions and the mobile signal towers. The fort is quite a massive one, really really huge! Half of the city lives inside the fort; shops restaurants everything is found in there. We walked around the fort and did a bit of seeing about. Somehow we did not explore it fully.....i think the number of people in there kind of put us off.
After lunch, we finally headed to the desert. This was the most awaited part of my trip, i was dying to see the desert! I was hoping to see a Bollywood style never ending beautiful desert......but was a tad disappointed. The desert actually wasn't too big, it actually got over pretty fast :). I would want to sue all the movie ppl who show wrong images :). We did the camel ride in the desert, which was real good fun. Unlike Leh, vik and I sat on the same camel this time; poor camel though (he he he). Went for a short ride, away from the maddening crowd and then stopped on top of a dune to watch the sunset and paint the sky with beautiful colors. This was a truly amazing sight! After spending some time wit the sand and the camels, we got back to land.
We spent the night in a desert camp, actually just a part of the night. They had some cultural programs there, which were good and enjoyable. This is a normal practice in the desert, there are lots of camps that serve dinner and have cultural traditional programs. You can also spend the night there, but we decided to head back to the city. We needed to start early the next day and head back to Jodhpur, to continue with the rest of our trip.
After a good night's sleep, again at Gorakh and a good breakfast we hit the road at around 9:30 AM. We made good time and reached Jodhpur by around 1.
Jaisalmer as a city wasn't too impressive but the desert trip made up for it, even though the camel ride was a bit steep. Advice to tourists, make sure you bargain and decide the rates before starting the ride.

Jodhpur - The Blue City

After the long cab ride, we reached Jodhpur at 6 in the morning. Caught up on some sleep and by around 10-10:30 we were ready to do some site seeing.

Since Abhi was with us, we did the moving about in his car. We started with some breakfast in a restaurant called Gypsy (decent food). We started by visting Umaid Bhavan Palace, a part of which has been converted by Taj into a Hotel. The palace and the architecture was absolutely beautiful. The second stop was at a local eatery to have Pyaaz kachori :). I did not care too much for it though.

The next visit was to Jaswant Thada - the memorial of Maharaja Jaswant Singh II. A very beautiful and quite place, also a lot of scenic beauty and of course the architecture of the cenotaphs was another masterpiece. A lot of charm was also because it was not overcrowded like other tourist spots. The next visit was to Mehrangarh Fort built by Rao Jodha in 15th Century. Another magnificient piece of art and architecture. The museum also has displays of the palkis, armoury,etc. Provides a good glimpse of the lifestyle of those years.

After this we went to have some mirchi vadas...which were not mirchi at all!! Then we started on our drive for Jaiselmer around 4:30, this was to be our next stop, and for me the most awaited spot to visit. The drive was good, the roads were also very good (including the single lane one). The best part of the drive - the starry sky, I swear i have never in my lifetime seen so many stars at once. Absolutely divine and breathtaking view! That was one site that i will carry in my heart and memories forever, no sky can ever match up to that.....

Am back....

Am back from Rajasthan and also to the blogging world :). I hope to be less lazy this time around. I plan to put a couple of blogs around my trip to Rajasthan and this is the first in that series.

We started on Saturday morning from Bangalore, by taking an early morning flight to Delhi. We went to Faridabad and caught up with Adita. That was a good visit :), had good food made by Aunty and did some chatting, while my husband caught up on some sleep!!

After that started our adventure or should I say misadventure??? We missed the train to Jaisalmer....@@##%^#&@*(@#$$@.....this is what i was feeling after missing the train. Imagine standing on the platform for 1 hour, seeing the train come, asking the TT if we have enough time to reach our compartment and then as we walk towards it, the damn train starts moving. And there is no way you can get on to it......
I did not know, if I should be cursing my luck or that stupid TT or that station that has no sign boards. Khair jo hona tha ho gaya. With Abhi's help, we took a cab and went to Beawar (or however you spell it) and then he picked us up from there.

So instead of Jaisalmer, our trip started with Jodhpur, which probably wasnt a very bad thing. I quite enjoyed the Jodhpur experience. Details to follow.....so keep watching this space!!