Miniature Golf

One day my cousin, who is the same age as I am, tells me he is taking golf lessons. I say I am appalled. Why do you want to play a game for 'buddhas'? Don't you have anything better to do. He tries to explain to me that it certainly is not a game for 'oldies' and that its pretty fun. Moreover, it helped him tremendously in his business, coz a lot of deals are 'dealt' with in these beautifully landscaped pastures. And I just kept laughing. I really believed its a total waste of beautiful land. Acres of plush green carpet to be trampled by the dimpled ball ....and the little golf carts. And to think of it, this oh-so-boring game came with its own gear, complete with its own line of clothing. I thought it was overrated. Politicians, celebrities, the 'corporates' and the like in their fancy golfing attire made a really good 'personable' picture in the Times magazine. And thats as far as it goes. As Mark Twain puts it, 'I consider golf to be an expensive way of playing marbles.' Little did I realize that one day, I would really enjoy this game.

A couple of weeks back, we went to Adventure Park USA. Anushka

s ticket included a game of mini golf. I had seen a lot of mini golf courses but I never bothered to venture out in any of these, thanks to my stupid preconceived notions. But as Anushka got bored with a couple of holes, it was left to me and Jignesh to finish the rest of the 18-hole round. And as I starting 'putting' up and managed to get the ball in the hole, I began to really enjoy. One time, I did hole it in just two strokes. Yippie!!! I was so excited. I can't wait to get back to mini golf, and this time, going through it with a score card.

Speaking of miniature golf, whoever thought about it. I googled up a bit and found that coz it was tough for the women to carry the bulky golf clubs, let alone giving it a hard swing, and traipsing around this huge field would be hard on the heels, they came up with this miniature golf idea. And how brilliant was it!!! Women, as well as the men, were able to get their hands around these loaded golf sticks and golf didn't remain an acronym for 'Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden'. And I also found that the 'dimpled' ball is 'dimpled' coz the 382 (wowww) 'dimples' help it to travel higher and farther.

Anyways, details aside, it is a fun game. And if you haven't tried it, GO. GO GOLF.

My dream last night

Since this blog has kinda become like my diary, I want to put my dream down in here so that I don't forget about it. It was just such a funny and an interesting one, wonder how my brain is super efficient in concocting some serious fiction. :)

So I have this neighbor, Petra. She is always doing something with her front and back yards. So I dream that she has this really windy creeper growing in her garden that sports tomatoes. Yes, tomatoes are hanging from these vines. The vines grow so long that they somehow make their way inside my kitchen, with the juicy reds just hanging from my ceiling. So when I want to cook, I just pluck one out right from my ceiling. (This is so hilarious). Anyways, I am talking to Petra about her tomatoes and she suddenly excuses herself, runs into her house, and then comes out all out of breath. She tells me this super super exciting news in a rather serious tone. She says, all the houses in our community are soon gonna be worth 1 and 1/2 million dollars. I obviously ask how come. She says someone is going to come visit us and explain why. Let me tell everyone in the neighborhood. Everyone gathers just outside my house. I notice a few desis that I never knew stayed in my community. We all are just abuzz with the million dollars, oops, million and a half dollars just twinkling in our eyes.

Just then, a fat chinku woman comes up. (I have never seen a fat chinku woman in my life). She takes on the stage. She explains: "A new Harry Potter movie is about to be released in a couple of months. This movie shows that the entire world is going to collapse. Or atleast America. All the buildings are going to fall, all structures will crush. The only community to escape this tragic phenomenon will be the Woodlake community. Which is our community. So the minute the promos start running through the TV, the home prices are going to rise and rise and rise. We estimate, atleast till a million and a half dollars. So guys, finish your upgrades, do up your houses, coz your homes are going to be the most expensive in this entire country." We gasp under our breath. The first thing I do is call Jignesh and let him know. The dream ends here.

Let me break my dream down and just try to analyse the circumstancial evidence for such an occurence....in my brain. :0

1. First, the tomatoes. I have to admit that I have longed for my very own vegetable garden. I'd rather plant veggies than flowers. Apart from the fact that I am a total 'duh' with gardening, I am unable to use my little backyard coz have rented out my basement. Front yard is for flowers obviously. But I shadow my laziness with my perfectly honest excuse of not knowing a thing about planting. But one day, I'll get my hands around the 'Gardening for dummies' book and I'll have the garden I desire.

2. We want to move to a bigger house. But with the home prices down, can't really talk about selling. So I do hope that the prices will come up a bit in a couple of years. Though a million bucks would definitely be a jackpot. That was an exaggerated dream I must admit.

3. I love Harry Potter. The book, the movie, the characters, everything about it.

4. I did catch the trailor for the movie 2012. So that explains the 'end of the world' part.

Well, goodnight, Bon Nuit, and long for continuity of life.

Connected globally!

Calling India was never...ever...so easy as it is now. What more could we expect? Unlimited free calling worldwide, especially to India, was a dream and its come true. Thank you Vonage. Thank you for connecting us globally and shrinking the 'virtual' distance even more.

Last week, when I heard about the Vonage World plan, I was pretty sure there is a catch. I call up the customer service and repeatedly ask the same question. Is there any hidden charge? She ended up laughing at me and assured me there was none. Then I make my first call. As soon as I finish with it, I go online, log in to my account to see if there was any charge. And there was none. Yippieeee!!! I am screaming. I call Jignesh and let him know. Liberation! Liberation! Liberation from those torturous calling cards and access numbers and pin numbers and lets not forget the pressure of the 'n' cents/minute. I have been enjoying this thoroughly as I pick one cousin or a friend every day and eat their brains.

Technology has come a longggggggg way. From letter-carrying pigeons to writing letters to making 'trunk' calls (I wonder why they were called trunk calls. Does anyone know why?) to making ISD calls to calling cards to VOIP phones offering unlimited calling at a very very reasonable charge/month. How does VOIP work, I have no clue. Jignesh has tried to explain it to me, but it goes right above my head. I can be plain dumb sometimes. And moreover, I really don't even want to break my head trying to decipher the server and internet highway lingo. As far as I am concerned, I am free now. I can call anywhere.....ok, almost anywhere in the world and that too unlimited. Technology rocks!!! and with it, so do I. By which I mean I am doing my happy dance. :) Helllllllloooooooooo India.

Movies!!!

Last weekend, I went for a movie, to a theater, and..., with no kids. Jignesh looked after them while I went giggling with my 'girl-friends'. You probably are thinking why am I making such a big deal out of it. Well, first of all, it has been ages since I went to a theater, and another thing, its been eons since I went without any kind of interference, ANY, whatsoever. I have got to do this more often. 3 hours of 'me-time' got me all rejuvenated to go running back to my kids and take them on.

I remember the time, back in college, when my preferences to choosing a movie were different. We have such a platter available to us. Artsy, mushy, bone-tickling, alien-y, dishum-dishum, cartoony, ghost-y and drama.

Of em all, the ones that I would totally avoid are:

Sci-fi: I kinda suffer from some intelligence deficiency. They go right above my head.

Horror/Suspense: I can't really have the demons and the monsters and the pyschos haunting me day and night. Bit of a scaredy cat here. Whats the point in watching those terrible, gut-wrenching atrocities? I still remember the theme music of 'Laal Killa' on DD. I would run away to another room when that started.

Action: Blood and violence, makes me nauseous. And obviously, the feats they show are totally impossible.

Extra-romantic: By which I mean the ones super suffused with extra sugar and unbelievable co-incidences that bring the hero and the heroine together. (yawn)

The ones I like and beginning to like:

Comedys including romantic comedys including chick flicks: Light, airy, fluffy, and funny, in that order. Can keep my serious side of the brain aside and switch the mode (read mood) to ...ummm unserious. Laugh through it and come out feeling literally lighter.

Artsy: By which I mean movies dealing with more real and factual issues, or even fictional but in a more real way. Something that touches the heart and makes you feel the world as is.

Cartoony: Wasn't Nemo and Lion King and Shrek so delightful and amusing?

Anyways, one thing I must add that reading the book first, and then watching the movie makes it more sensible. Like Harry Potter, or the Kite Runner, or even Namesake. It just made it so easy for me to understand. I'd highly recommend that.

Well, movies are stories. Stories that help keep our hopes alive. Stories that help keep us dreaming. Stories, that plain make us smile and laugh our hearts out. So always try to find some time to catch a nice one and let it stimulate your imagination.

Most memorable ones: Not Without My Daughter, Birdcage, Life Is Beautiful, Forrest Gump, Matchstick Men, I am Sam, Masoom, Slumdog Millionaire, Nemo, Lion King, to name a few.

Rakhi ka bandhan

I am not talking about Rakhi ka swayamvar if that's what you have in mind. I don't blame ya coz this new reality show on the Indian channels is as melodramatic as it can get and a good source of 'put-your-head-aside' entertainment.

I am talking about our good ole festival, Rakshabandhan. Come to think of this. We celebrate a lot of days based on relationships. Mother's Day, Father's Day, Teacher's Day, Valentine's Day, Children's Day, Friendship Day. So a Sibling's Day becomes more than just appropriate, doesn't it? Though most of the other days are 'amrikan' and not completely acceptable to our society (how can we forget the passion with which our beloved Shiv Sena loves to destroy any 'foren' culture invasion), Rakshabandhan, however, is greeted with honor and tradition considering its mythological origin.

Is Raksha bandhan still celebrated traditionally? Well, apparently, the rakhis are getting more and more traditional with every season. The silk dhagas come with beads and stones well accompanied by the choiciest mithai boxes, puja thalis or even chocolate hampers. Yes, there are designer rakhis embellished with pearls and gems, but they tend to showcase the most conventional form of our culture. The zardosi and meenakari painted rakhis come with an ethnic scroll that dole out sanskrit shlokas and poems on the love between a brother and sister. And mind you, they are not without an English translation to make them more comprehensible. With the invasion of technology and in the new era of E-commerce, we have all this available online. Beautiful rakhis and gifts are just a click away. Talking about gifts, not only do you have perfumes to microwaves for your sisters, there are also gift packs for brothers that include the latest gadgetry and spa gift certificates. Talk about a reverse trend here. In fact, I also send my rakhi to my brother with a gift pack. And yes, lets not forget the entire array of shinchan and doremon and spiderman rakhis and goodies for the kids.

Well, some say we have marred our tradition. I don't agree. Marrying the technology with tradition is I think the spice that'll enrich our lives and enlighten our souls. Changing times have made us geographically apart, but doesn't facebook and orkut keep us even more updated than ever before? So let the siblings who live overseas get their rakhis and gifts via fedex, it does definitely bring a smile to our faces. And for the locals, though the rakhi celebrations becomes a strictly Sunday affair, atleast you get to enjoy it without any work hurdles.

Happy Rakhi!!!

Strawberry picking

There is nothing more natural than being on an actual farm. There is nothing more organic than going down on your knees and plucking your fruit right of its stem. There is nothing more delicious than eating it right thereafter. 

We went strawberry picking last weekend, something that I had not done in a long time. The last time was a decade ago in Mahableshwar. The farm was luscious. Even the air smelled wonderful. The rows of the strawberry plant were perfectly parallel. The red shining through the green was a visual treat. More than the kids, I was super excited. I immediately got to work. I went about the plants looking for the most red and the biggest strawberry and I wasn't disappointed. It was almost thrilling to find a big one. While Anushka ran in the fields with a stick in her hand, I was not only plucking, but eating them as well. And boy oh boy!!! were they delicious!!!! I knew I had more than I wanted, more than I could finish, but what the heck!!! I just blended up a nice cool strawberry milkshake at night. 

Strawberry is indeed a very beautiful-looking fruit, isn't it? I would like to think of it as a royal fruit. Here are some fun facts about strawberries that I was amazed at:

• Strawberries were originally called 'strewberries' coz they lie just strewned across the leaves of the plants on the ground.
  
• They are the only fruit with seeds on the outside skin. Each fruit has about 200 seeds on it.
• Belgium has a whole museum for strawberries.
• Strawberries belong to the family of rose. 
• Big source of vitamin C and folic acid. And totally fat-free.

I would say that this is a really cool fun outdoor summer activity that every family should plan. June is the only month the strawberry harvest will last. July will be the month for blueberries. So get going you guys!!! Just google up the nearest pick-your-fruit farm and scurry away this weekend. 

P.S. Don't forget your sunscreen lotions.  

Cleaning fairies

I have a fairy who visits me once every month. She does magic too. She squeaky-cleans my house and transforms it into this lovely bright, extra-hygienic abode to live in. She is my cleaning lady and I do call her my fairy. How I wish I had another fairy who would visit my body once every month and clean it all up. Well, lets see, what would these body-cleaning maids really do. 

BRAIN-ATTIC: Lets start from right above. Clear out those cobwebs, dust those memory cells and make them shine again. Afterall, memories are our precious treasure. 

CONTROL ROOM: I'd like to imagine this as circuit board, with pins and chips. And since this is the most functional nerve area of our body, this needs special-care cleaning. The maids will use perfect little brushes to squiggle out the dirt on those boards and end with a nice moist layer of an antiseptic solution to keep it sparkly and 'well-oiled'. 

EYES: Coming down to the face, clean those eyes, with its lenses and leave it with a good spray of an anti-glare liquid given the fact that most of us are either facing a computer or a tv during the max time of the day. 

ENT: Then enter the ENT area which is sure to be all gooey with its mucosy and waxy secretions. Suck it all up with one of the heavy-duty commercial vacuum to leave it free of any dirty saliva or cough. 

LUNGS: Moving on to the lungs, check the little air bags and the right proportion of the oxygen and carbon dioxide leaving the body. Of course, in case of any discrepancies noticed that cannot be tended to asap, make notes that will be reported to the owner of the body. 

HEART: Check the chambers. Check the valves, check the good blood, bad blood. Check the flow. Check the pressure. And well, give the ole guy a nice big hug before making way to the tummy. 

TUMMY AND BOWELS: Check acidity levels. Check the walls. Pay special attention to any swellings, inflammations or similar if noticed. Make notes.

KIDNEYS: Yes, they have special masks and gloves to wear before descending into this bean-shaped organ. Check accumulation. Check flow. Check for any calcium built-up. 

As soon as all this is done, we get to review the cleaning maids' notes. Any special notes or tags can be discussed with the doctor and the necessary treatment or precaution can get under way without no further delay. Wouldn't this be revolutionary in the world of healthcare? Wouldn't it make us more prudent as far our health is concerned? And the healthier we stay, wouldn't we be happier? If only.....