Oh My God!

I was browsing through my sitemeter and followed a link that led to a Hindi translation of my blog.
I mean the stuff is hilarious but only if you can read Hindi. Every other line is without context. Sample this-

In an ideal world this summer I would like to visit Ladakh again.
इस दुनिया में एक आदर्श मैं गर्मियों में लद्दाख फिर से यात्रा करना चाहते हैं .

Look at the picture at the left, can you blame me if I yearn to be there again?
चित्र में देख पर छोड़ दिया है , आप कर सकते हैं यदि मैं मेरे दोष इच्छा को वहाँ फिर से ?

Poor person, whoever s/he was and wanted to read the stuff in Hindi. I hardly ever try translating stuff on the web so this came as a surprise for me.

PS. Will follow up on the previous post soon. This post was done on the spur of the moment.

Make a Suggestion

(Picture Taken at Spitok, Ladakh)

In an ideal world this summer I would like to visit Ladakh again.

Look at the picture at the left, can you blame me if I yearn to be there again?

But when all I can manage is two to three days of leave, tell me where should I go?

I do not wish to take a flight, ideal journey would be by bus (but willing to take a train too) and I know I can't reach much further than Rishikesh or something like that, give my time frame.

So if you know of any places around that (I have already been to Rajaji National Park) region or anything else, do let me know.

I definitely need to travel and soon.

Or else my head will burst.

And 'death by grading' is over, finally.

A Picture Every Other Day- Spiti Again

Magnificent Spiti- Demul to Lahlung

I need some inspiration as it is death by grading till this weekend. Will catch up with the blog world as soon I am through.

Lazy Sunday Photo- Being Silly!

Being Silly- Jumping Down a Pile of Bricks

I really like the picture above, my nephew and his friend jumping from a pile of bricks (when they are a little too old for this!) and my elder nephew clicked this picture. I mean when do we grow up so much that there is no time left for silly things?

Trafalgar Square, London

You know why I say this? I remember walking past this stone lion in Trafalgar Square and I actually wanted to go and sit there but then didn't risk it for the fear of being too silly. Next time, I am going to act silly at least 3 out of 10 times when I feel like doing so.

Monet Talk or Not!

Monet Picture at Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

I am very poor at appreciating art. I know of only a few big names like Monet, Van Gogh and umm, OK, Michaelangelo.

So why am I talking (or not) about Monet now? Well, it all started with this post that I linked at Blogbharti-

Kusum visits the Poppy fields in Antelope Vally in the US and her pictures are a feast for the eyes.

No no, wait, I am coming to Monet. Then came Sunil who left this comment.

Thanks, great snaps.

I suppose the only excuse for not associating with Monet would have to be death.

Now I am curious and ask him (at Blogbharti), "So is Monet associated with death?" I am curious because his comment jogs my memory that I actually have seen a Monet painting at Oxford (the one posted above) and I thought maybe that at home turf (i.e. Blogbharti) I can take the risk of asking dumb questions. Hmm the answer I got convinced me that I should leave art well alone.

Er no. My fault, the way in which i said it. I just wanted to say it reminds me of Monet’s well known poppies. And almost instantaneously one would associate the snaps with the paintings. The only reason not to is if you have died. especially for me coz one monet hangs in my bed room. ;)
Cheers

OK, now that I read it again it makes some sense because Kusum uploaded pictures of poppies and Monet painted poppies ... But then I will not go anywhere near art for quite sometime now. Scares me stiff.

A Picture Every other Day- Sitting Duck

Sitting Duck- Picture Clicked at Best Western Resort, Manesar

After looking at this picture I can understand why a sitting duck is considered an easy target! The bird looks so peaceful, unconcerned with the world and without a care in this world. Or is it hiding behind the rocks from everything that is to be avoided, hence this peaceful look? Depending on the mood, both the interpretations would feel correct! Either way, it does seem like an easy target.

Food Sense- I Have None!

Ice Cream

This post revolves around ice creams and tea. Long time back when I was a Ph.D student at Kanpur, I went out for dinner with a visiting faculty from Sweden, one of the few people whom I consider a thorough gentleman. He, I think, was fond of food. One has to marvel how he survived on the mess food for a year on campus. And he is one person who beat me at every single TT game I played with him. On top of that my feeling is, it is because of his generosity I could make 14-15 points with him, if he wished he could thrash me under 10 always. But then I am digressing.

So, that night at dinner, the food was over and we were ordering desserts. We decided to order ice creams, he was very sure he wanted to eat Kesar Pista (an Indian flavor) and I vaguely ordered vanilla. Some discussion about our choices occurred and I remarked, "I am really quite indifferent to food." A little later we were eating our ice creams and I told him, "Mine tastes good." And the gentleman that he was, he said "Because you are eating mine." I must have gobbled at least a quarter if it by then (the waiter served it wrong!) but we exchanged the ice creams and I had to finish the bland vanilla one. I told him, "See, I am that indifferent to food." This incident is almost a decade old, the time when I didn't need to watch the number of ice creams I ate in a week or even in a day.

I was reminded of this incident because last week I was drinking 'black coffee' and I was telling someone that it is not good, there is too much coffee in it. And I was told, "Well, it is not coffee, it is tea."

Hmm, a decade later I am as bad, still not able to differentiate between tea and coffee (but only black) but I am sure I would know a vanilla ice cream now, or better still I will not order a vanilla ice cream anymore!