Back Home

"Home is where the heart is" - When I was leaving Paris, I felt like I was leaving "home". Now that I am back in Bangalore, I feel like I am "home"..this is where I grew up...this is where my family is...I have spent 12 years in Bangalore...and yet..3 months in Paris..and I call it home...Jerusalem is like another home....If I were asked..which of these 3 homes I like the best..Well...

Bangalore...I love India..and all things Indian..no make that most things Indian..I don't like strange odours wafting through my nostrils...I tend to be a tad high and mighty abt certain places..KR Market being a worthy example of a place where my nose is somewhere in the heavens...I hate dirt and filth..Have started considering dodging animal dung an inevitable part of my pedestrian life...its there everywhere!!! I dont mind the traffic....I love the fact that the sun rises and sets at the same time every day of the year...I love the fact that there IS sunlight falling on me....I love the fact that shops are open till 10...and that things I like are not ridiculously out of my reach...and that there are more people than fingers and toes who together pamper me and indulge my every wish...I am a veritable princess in Bangalore...

Jerusalem...my first home away from home...the first thing that comes to my mind..the instant feeling of calm that settles in when I step into Jerusalem...In Israel also, from the time I step into Ben Gurion Airport till I leave...everything is taken care of for me.
There is a welcoming air about Jerusalem..the people there make you feel welcome. I am not an outcast there. I am one among them. My colleagues at the office are super too...they include me in their weekly Shabbath rituals...they instantly made me a part of their lives and an extension of their family...which is why I know for sure I would never get homesick in Israel...I am home in a sense..with Hilda's family or Lionel's...

Paris...the immediate association with this city is independence!! Nothing is served to me on a platter, right from the taxi at the airport. I have to fend for myself here...no Hilda to mother me here. I can safely say..Paris is where I outgrew my caterpillar stage...I have learnt to be more responsible and mature. I have learnt to be more detached and to observe things with a detached view. Its also a city where at long last, I have learnt to be a litttle selfish..to put myself before others. I did not feel too homesick in Paris too because I was actually revelling in my new found independence!!! I had to make sure there were groceries in the kitchen...I had to do my own laundry..was responsible for keeping my studio clean...I totally loved it!!! That I can eat only that which I like..so no cabbage or radish or idli for 3 months....bliss I tell you...

So there it is..Paris.. I am the lady of the manor..and get to decide everything...
Jerusalem...Peace and contentment...amazing people..its like staying over at a very dear relative's place
Bangalore...."home"...:-)

Pics of Grenoble

View of Grenoble from the Bastille Fort..Its an amzing place..Mountains..Valleys..rivers..all the elements for poetry are right there!

The Iser River..The only thing more twisted is my head!!!


View of the French Alps from Bastille..You can see Mont Blanc in the distance..

Strange Thoughts

Definition of life..

And I am not talking abt the breathing in and out..heart beating kinda definition..I am talking about social standing..what determines whether you're considering worth having a life types..
In school it was..the girls who did well in academics,the school leaders...being a BDO member was a big deal in Baldwins (given the wild child that I was..I was a leader only once!), being in the sports team, being in the cultural team..these were fundamental to deciding how popular you are in school..and how well you will be remembered after you leave..
In Pre-University..the IIT applicants were the elite class..and the ICSE students..coz it was like a cake walk for us..in the end..it was your CET rank and which college/branch you got into in..
Once in Engineering...the first 2 years..you were cool if you had a boyfriend..I mean even today, when I catch up with old friends..the single/relationship status is always talked abt..did you have a boyfriend? for how long? wow! thats long...what happened? Oh I'm sorry..The latter 2 years of college was all about placements or higher studies...GRE, CAT, GMAT, GATE or the Infoscions and so on..
Blessed as I have been..I have been part of all the cliched stereotypes since school..hence..have been considered popular by my peers...
And now suddenly...there is no stereotype..nothing to be..no "cool set" to be part of...strange..but nice!

Waiting to go home!

Abt time I got a lil homesick I guess...was just thinking abt all the things I would do first when I get home..and lots of people suddenly rushing into my head..Cant wait to give my mom a nice, tight hug....Trouble Adi again..think I have missed him the most this time...me ringing the bell..him asking who? me saying naan(tamil!) and him asking Butter aa?? it would bug me then..now I would gladly have him answer the door at Mercure ApartHotel in the exact same way...
Bug suchi..chat away with my darling grandma..use the kinetic again...drive the car..watch TV in English...read the Newspaper..aaaaaaah!
Miss the workplace too...drinking Ganesh's chococcino...troubling JP...me and hazel teasing Sandy..playing catch with Ramki..Sujan and his madness...subbu..anu and our hugging ritual..joel...Georgie Porgie..Evenings at the office...Naamdaari's and their amazing blueberry cheesecake..Mast Kalandar's Chatoree chat...Magnolia's Taro Nest..Sahib Sindh Sultan's Reshmi Paneer tikka...roadside Pani Puri..Mishti's Mishti Dahi...
Miss my friends..and all of them complaining abt not getting to see me enough...shall do something abt that this time...Il try atleast..
Its weird..but every little thing each of you said or did..is like vividly etched in my memory...Sigh! Back to work now..
Dont know if I should put this up on my blog..maybe for just a day..

The Last Time
You never know when the last time is going to be the last time....
My last time on Champs Elysses, I wanted to get a pic taken under the Ve Arrondissement, Avenue Des Champs Elysses board...wanted to eat Chocolate Caramel Truffle Sundae at Haagen Daas, take one last look at Sephora...Instead my last time I just headed inside Sephora, bought a bit and left...

It's not just about places...you never say the things you want to say coz you always think you are gonna meet again...but sometimes, you just dont...and well, you regret not saying it when you could...

Even when it comes to saying goodbye to someone...you picture the last goodbye so vividly (at least I do!)..and you just say a simple bye before..suddenly that simple bye is your final adieu...

So, maybe I treat everytime like the last time...but then again..thats stupid!!! I cant keep eating Choc Caramel Truffle everytime I am on Champs Elysses...I would not fit through most doors if I did that!!!
Sigh! C'est la vie....That is life...What happens happens...guess the only solution would be not to pin too much on that last time and just live for the moment!

Pics of Annecy

Lake Annecy
I just liked the blue between teh clouds..hence took this pic..
A path leading ( or so we thought!) to a beautiful chapel!
A typical canal in Annecy..with flowers adorning it..

Paradise and Back!!

Travelled alone for the first time this weekend...mighty kicked abt it!! Can't believe its actually taken me this long to do something like this...guess eating alone and watching a movie alone should follow soon enough as well...First time I am heading outside Paris after Italy (if you discount Versailles which is half an hour away!)...God! It seems like forever!!

Anyways moi went to Grenoble this weekend...its a little town nestled in the French alps...beautiful...also went to Annecy...I have a friend staying in Grenoble...left from here Friday evening by TGV...reached there around 10.30..Swaroop was at the station...His place is a 10 min walk from the Gare..had a yummy dinner..White wine..dal+chappati and an amazing cake for dessert...i was stuffed! Then tried to sleep..Grenoble is incredibly quiet!! Its absolutely still at that hour of the night..deathly silence..Positively spooky..

Got up really early the next morning to head to Annecy. It's 105km north of Grenoble and 40 km from the Swiss Border..It’s got a beautiful lake, Annecy from which it gets its name.

Ugur Firdoce bur Roo-e Zumeen ust. Humeen ust o Humeen ust o Humeen ust
( If there be a Paradise upon Earth. It is this, it is this, it is this.!).

I am sure if Firdaus ever got to Annecy he would share my sentiments!This is a beautiful place..you have pretty bridges dotting the place that are filled with flowers...a beautiful chapel..and the lake..It’s straight out of a postcard...With many hues of blue...surrounded by mountains on one side and the town makes up the other three...it’s really huge! You have geese and swans and quite a few yachts dotting the water line..

We walked around most of the lake..had yummy lunch by this place near a pretty bridge...ah..the day was perfection itself! The weather was just brilliant..clear blue skies..I think the beauty of the place made us forget how tired we actually were...But by the end of the day..I was beat..Completely exhausted..we finally got on the train back to Grenoble..where Swaroop regaled me with a brief history of Kannada Cinema for an hour!! I was in splits! have resolved to get back home and watch these movies! Returned home..ate dinner and tachi....

Woke up quite late on Sunday..brilliant weather in Grenoble too...Grenoble is surrounded on 3 sides by mountains…its also got 2 rivers..Le Drac and Le Iser...beautiful place…envy Swaroop! He gets to stay there for 18 months!!! Walked around town..saw a couple of cathedrals...walked in to a flea market..had yummy Choc Chip cookie..walked into a deserted Place Victor Hugo..which is their city centre..where all things happen! Had a super lunch that preceded by Chatreuse..which is the local liquor..a green liquid..that burns its way down your throat and emanates some vapours..unique!! Then a brilliant Penne Pasta follwed by..Tiramisu with Rum soaked raisins..divine!!!

Then we headed to Bastille…this fort..one of the main centres if the French Revoltion as well..its in the Chatreuse range of mountains if I am not mistaken! We go up in these bubble shaped cable cars to the top..and enjoy a view of the city..and the mountain ranges..Grenoble has the longest straight road in Europe..Boulevard Jean Jaures..and you get to see almost its entire length of 8km from there..also got to see Mont Blanc with its snow capped peaks!! Beautiful..I mean..to just sit there and marvel at the beauty of nature…at the sheer perfection..of both natural form and human! ;-)..

Walked down the hill and got back home…another beautiful day came to an end…sat on the TGV to Paris..and slept!!! Got up half dazed and headed home with Sachin…Anjali had made super yummy food..ate that and just gave in to the all the exhaustion..

Woke up this morning feeling like a ball of wool has replaced my brain..still do..so this post is probably one of my worst written!! Excuse moi! Shall put up pics of Grenoble and Annecy tomo..

AB's Baby!!

Abhishek Bachan is in town!! He is in Paris shooting for a movie along with Lara Dutta..saw him on Friday at the Trocadero gardens..but could get only a distant glimpse...no autograph as well..but what little I saw I liked..a very balanced individual..and incredibly polite..a lady asked him for an autograph on his way somewhere..and he apologized very politely while declining..really liked that about him..no star tantrums or anything..yeniways...ate a nice meal at Quicks and returned home...

Rockin' weekend...Sachin's friend and his family arrived from Stuttgart..Very nice people..dropped them off at their apartment which has English Channels btw ( what luck!!)..returned home via Havre Caumartin..found some pretty not-so-expensive clothes to buy around here..shall be going back there today..returned home and crashed!! not used to getting up at 6 am anymore..it takes a deathly toll on me..anyways..met up Gurya and his family at St. Michel..showed them the beauty of Invalides...and then when we reached the Eiffel..it stated pouring!! and we were stuck getting wet..a very sweet Indian selling umbrellas gave me respite from the pelting rain by holding an umbrella for me..people can be really sweet!!

Returned home to change...and then ate diner at Gandhi's near our place..very very tasty food...went to watch a movie after that..My Super-ex girlfriend...eeeeeeeeeeeks!!!awful movie..what a let down after The Devil wears Prada..returned home and slept!!

This Sunday is first Sunday of the month..hence entry to all museums around Paris is free...started fairly early..visited Museé D'Orsay..this is an old railway station converted into a museum..beautiful..and I personally feel sculptures are more expressive than paintings..and this museum is filled with them! Saw quite a few of Napolean Bonaparte..lots of Greek mythology..saw Mercury..Apollo..a statue echoing the unrequited love of Sapho the Greek poetess..realy nice...

And then..my first glimpse of Impressionist art..My initiation into the world of Monet..Cezanne..Van Gogh..Renoir...I always thought art collection was for people who did not have anything else left to buy..but I have changed my mind now!! This stuff is really good..maybe not necessarily so exorbitantly prized..but good stuff..worth collecting..worth displaying..worth admiring...collected a few postcards..Monet's famous Water Lilies..Cezannes Apples and Oranges..some I really liked of Van Gogh and Renoir..not necessarily their most famous..

After that..headed to Invalides to see Napolean's Tomb..nice place..its a church that has been divived into 2 parts.one is for the soldiers..and one was for the king..the one for the soldiers was beautiful..easily one of the most beautiful churches I have seen..then went along to the other side to see Napolean's tomb..

Once that was done..went across to Rodin's museum..saw that great masterpiece of his..The Thinker..then a few more...Adam, Eve, the Gates of Hell..and so on..very nice..I like sculptures a whole lot more than I like paintings..Impressionist ones notwithstanding..

Then walked over to Concorde..and here I had my second brush with Abhishek Bachan...they were shooting there!! managed to get an autograph this time..as well as a very close look of the star..he did not seem to be in the best of moods so could not get a glimpse of that killer smile..left after my autograph to check out Place Vendome..and before I forget..AB is good looking...polite..and has a voice that can make anyone go weak in the knees..

Place Vendome..dominated by a huge Column Vendome atop which sits Napolean on his Le Cheval! Surrounding this magnificent column are the Ritz Hotel..Chanel..Dior..Cartier..posh!! did not even look at their displays fearing I might really like something...You cannot love that which you do not know!! so left after a quick look to head to the next museum..Centre George Pompidou..

This is a weirdly built Modern Art Museum that has pipe like structures all outside..very starnge..I am not one for Modern Art..did not appreciate it too much at the Museum in Jerusalem..ditto here..had a quick look and left..

Every Museum in Paris presents its work differently..and they are all unique.;The Louvre was originally the Royal Palace..Musee D'Orsay a railway station..The Rodin Museum is a huge garden..witha lot of little gardens at the centre of which u have a work by Rodin..Centre G. Pompidou is weird..built like many pipes etc..very nice!

Returned home and slept like the dead..woke up at around 19.30..had to go out for dinner with Gurya and family..hunted all about Avenue Des Champs Elyseess for a cake..and no luck!! went for dinner anyways..returned home and crashed!!! have never felt this tired before I think...slept the sleep of the dead!!