Canada Day 1

It is past 3 am now. But I just cant go to sleep. My body just refuses to adjust to a new time zone all over again. Just as it was getting used to Australian time, we moved for a day to Singapore and then spent a night at London and then moved to Canada. So within less than a week, we were in a place which was 18 hrs behind Australia. But we had no time to rest and did full justice to our hectic sightseeing schedule. There was just so much beauty around us that jet lag seemed too lame a reason to lie in our hotel room. Again in 9 days time it was back to Holland and again a difference of 7 hrs. But now my body is screaming out loud that it wants to sleep and make up for the lost hrs. So I spent the whole day sleeping, waking up only to eat and attend to nature's call and now I am repenting it. I just cant get back to sleep. Tried reading a book, counting sheep, browsing internet sites but nothing worked. So finally decided to pen down a few words in my blog. Has been quite a while since my last entry anyway. And there has been such a lot going on in our lives that it would be almost criminal if i I dont.

Dont really know where to start. Australia was good but Canada was just breathtakingly beautiful. It was a chapter in geography come alive. It was like being on a time machine......seeing the relics of our past. It was an exercise for our imagination.....trying to visualise the world in the days of the ice age or the time when the earth was in its infancy and was a very hyperactive child.It was like listening to mother earth tell her story. All in all, it was an experience never to be forgotten. An all too humbling experience....an experience which reminded you that you are just a tiny speck in this world. A byproduct of the innumerable changes which has made this present day possible. And an experience which reaffirmed our faith that there was a power high up there....how else could you account for this beauty?

We reached Calgary on the 29th of June after a 7 hrs flight from London. We were exhausted and wanted to go back to our hotel/ youth hostel as soon as possible. We were not expecting something grand....just a roof above our head (What else can you expect when you book a shared dorm for just 25 dollars a person per night in the peak season in a place like the Rockies?)But we were in for a shock. When the taxi dropped us (read the two weary, jetlagged, worn out backpackers) at a dodgy looking place with a dodgier looking receptionist in a french named hostel which translated into "Hostel from us" our hopes of even a roof above our heads sounded a bit too grand. And we were duly informed that we did not have a booking there and when we showed her our internet confirmation, she told us that the manager had made a mistake and we did not have two beds in the mixed dorm. Instead she suggested that I can sleep in the dorm which "mostly had females" and Edam could rest his head in the mixed dorm as they were the only two beds available. Yhis was unthinkable. Accepted that we wanted to save money so that we could use our shoe string budget with the shoe strings of the poorest quality , on other more exciting things like white water rafting and walking on a glacier, but this was definitely not an option. The place was teeming with hippy looking people and the whole place had a weird smell. The receptionist then suggetsed that we could try our luck at another hostel nearby. We jumped at the oppurtunity. She called up and we were told that the place had two beds in a mixed dorm. We trudged our way to the place which was not too far off but with luggage to carry and stomach grumbling with hunger, it was no fun. We finally reached the hostel and that seemed like an ok place. We left our luggage in the lockers in our dorm, wondering what creatures we would be sharing our bedroom with for the night. We were terribly hungry and so we set out in search for a place to eat. We were in downtown and it was just past 5, but the place looked like a ghost town. We saw a few druggies on the road and there were these needle disposal units everywhere..... a warning that this place was filled with druggies and not a good place to hang out after dark. With great difficulty we managed to get a cafe to grab a quick snack. Edam wanted to use the washrooms. Never imagined that this could be an arduous task in itself. Apparently they lock all the toilets in the downtown area after office hours so that the place is not filled with drug addicts in the morning. Poor guy was bursting with "you know what" Talk of shit luck.

After a long search he managed to relieve himself in a toilet which would have been locked if he was a minute late. We then tried looking around Calgary a bit. Found nothing of much interest. There are a few good hiking trails in the area but it was too late to go on any of them. There is an olympic stadium to on the outskirts of the city, which would have been a good place to visit but we just had one evening and so that was not possible. There was one indoor garden which also was closed by the time we reached. So basically after some "nothing to talk about" dinner at an Indian place, we went back to our hostel. Met some guys from India who were obviously in search of work. They did not seem too gentlemanly and so we kept our conversation with them short. Edam emailed everybody at home and checked for important mails from office. Just as we were thinking that the long day was coming to a close. we realised that ther was something wrong with the timing the car was booked for at Jasper....the place we were heading for the next day. After repeated phone calls and emails, we finally went to sleep past 1 am. Just as we were leaving, we met a lady from Mumbai who was a school teacher and had come here for some conference. It was very late and we had a bus to catch at 5 am the next morning. So we decided against striking up a long conversation and went to "our" bedroom. In a way it was good as everydody was asleep by the time we reached the room and were still sleeping save one, who was in the mens toilet, when we woke up the next morning. We just brushed and changed into new clothes and left for what was to be one of the most memorable trips which we had ever taken and most likely, will ever take.

It is almost 4 am now and I can sense a litttle heavy something on my eyelids....think sleep is finally coming to me. So will end now and promise myself that I will continue when I wake up and am done with the daily chores that demand to be done and without which life would be so much more hassle free but probabaly be in a pig sty than in a proper home.

My Vegetable Love Poem

Lately I have really begun to enjoy cooking, thanks to all the encouragement I get from Edam and so in this "love to cook" phase of my life, I devote this poem to the love of my life. just for the records, this is not written by me but I think it is really unique, not to mention hilarious.
here is how it goes

Cabbage always has a heart; green beans string along;
You're such a cute tomato, will you peas to me belong?
You've been the apple of my eye, you know how much I care;
So lettuce get together, we'd make a perfect pear.
Now, something's sure to turnip to prove you can't be beet;
So, if you carrot all for me let's let our tulips meet.
Don't squash my hopes and dreams now, Bee my honey, dear;
Or tears will fill potato's eyes, while sweet corn lends an ear.
I'll cauliflower shop and say, your dreams are parsley mine.
I'll work and share my celery, so be my valentine.

Isn't this really cute? I love the ways they have played around with the names of the veggies. i really love it.

Gouda

London and Amsterdam

I havent blogged in over two months now. I am being more irregular than I ever thought I will be. But believe me, it is not by choice. I have been battling with so many different kind of things. PlAB and the Australia trip are the most notable of them all. The first one, I suspect was a total waste of time and energy. The second I hope will not be the same.
Anyway, one good thing about PLAB was the chance to visit London. I enjoyed every minute of it. And it made me miss my Mumbai all the more. the red doule decker buses......they were so similar to the ones I used to travel in daily when I was in Mumbai. The architecture of the buildings brought back memories of Churchgate and VT. After so many days, I got to see big departmental stores, homeless men and bright lights. Enschede is beautiful but I do miss these. London was ofcourse a lot cleaner than Mumbai and the homeless men I saw, stood no comparision to the beggars I used to see in Mumbai. The departmental stores were bigger and more flashy and ofcourse a lot more expensive. The underground system was more puntual as compared to the Mumbai trains and people were well behaved even in rush hours. I did not see anybody singing and begging, did not see ladies cutting vegetables in the train nor did I see anyway body selling things ranging from combs to notebooks, in the compartments. And there were no bhajan groups in the trains. (Wonder what it would sound like if the brits start singing hymns in the underground at the peak hours?) All these things I can only experience when I go back to my city of dreams. But all the same, london for a few days made me feel as if I was partly back in the city I spent most of my life in.i felt as though my mumbai had been swept and washed and given a new coat of colour and people were given new clothes. There were so many Indians there that it was not very difficult to forget that we were not in India. We hardly met any Brits. Everybody seemed to be from some other country. But isnt it strange, when I was actually in India, I used to curse the pollution, the noise, the poverty, the stress of daily life, the crowds and now, I actually miss it so much that I really yearn to go back to it?
But the thing I enjoyed the most in London, were, the musicals. Ofcourse they are superbly expensive but they were just fantabulous.We saw Mary poppins and The Phantom of the Opera. The props were simply out of this world. And the actors danced and sang and acted all at the same time. They were really so talented. Even the children sang so beautifully in Mary Poppins. We got a very good view in Phantom.... cos we had the best seats in the theatre and so we could actually make out the facial expressions of all the actors. It was an experience I will never forget.
Other than the musicals, we also saw the Buckingham Palace, took a walk down Pall Mall, went to Trafalgar square, The British Museum(though we coudnt see much as we were running out of time. only managed to go thru theEgyptian portion of the museum), met the dinosaurs at The Natural Sciencew Muesum, walked along the Thames, saw the Millenium Wheel, went to the computer science department of Kings College, took a stroll along oxford street, felt like a pauper at Harrods and saw the really tacky memorial of Princess Diana and Dodi al Fayed at Harrods, saw the most unassuming house of the British prime minister, walked past the beautiful parliament house and feasted our eyes on the Big Ben.We also managed to catch a glimpse of the international court of justice and I managed to march with the royal gurads during the 'Change of Guards' ceremony . In two days, we really covered a lot of ground. We were, understandably, dead tired by the time we reached Enschede.
Other than London, we also went to Amsterdam (thrice actually in the last two months all related to visa work. Amsterdam has now become my gateway to the world) . The city is just so unique and so beautiful. Very very different from london. The canals run right thru the centre of the city with a lot of houseboats where people actually stay. The only time before I had seen houseboats was in Kashmir. I could see from outside that these houseboats had everything from cycle stands to television sets to cooking ranges. Some were kept beautifully while the others looked very shabby. We went to the Van Gogh museum and were spell bound for almost 3 hrs. The paintings are so beautiful. They appeal to the eyes of even lay people like us. There were also the paintings of other artists of the same period which was just as beautiful. We saw the famous sunflower paintings and the series of paintings titled "potato eaters". We loved one painting where all Van Gogh had done was,what looked from close quarters, a random splash of colours, but from a distance got transformed into a beautiful landscape. He died very young and he started painting when he was 27. Wonder how he managed to create such masterpieces in such a short time. In addition he was not really appreciated for his paintings during his lifetime and he was always short of cash. His brother was his financier.The brother deserves as much credit as Van Gogh himself as without his brothrs support, Van gogh would never have been able to create these masterpieces.
We did not go to Rembrandt's museuem as entry into each museum was superbly expensive, unlike London where they are free, and besides we did not have that much time. We walked past Dames square, walked past the canals, the flower market which since it was not the season for flowers, was nothing spectacular, went to the Anne Frank museum which was really very touching and also took a boat ride on the canals of Amsterdam. When we were waiting at the queue for Anne frank, there were a couple of young Americans behind us. One was a young boy of maybe 18 and with him was a girl who would barely be 16 or so. Both were smoking marijuana. The smell made me sick and I felt even worse cos they were standing in font of this young girls house who had lost her life in the world war and I felt it was insult to her memory to go into that house with drugs in your blood. I wonder if they realsied that this girl , at an age younger than both these druggies, had lost her mother, her sister, the place she knew as her home and most importantly her childhood. Did these things really matter to them? If not, i felt like asking them, what made them come and stand in the queue in the bitter cold? Did they consider this as just another "tourist destination". I felt ashamed by their behaviour. they obviously felt nothing.
"Good girls go to heaven, Bad girls go to Amsterdam". This was a sign that caught our eye while we were strolling down the streets of this city. Amsterdam has an abundance of sleazy bars, porn shops, sex museums and ofcourse the famed red light districts. Surprisingly, they say that the red light district in Amsterdam is the safest place in the whole city cos each of these girls have their own bodyguards who make sure that "everything is in order". we walked pass this area before taking our train back to Enshede. it was around 7.30 pm and obviously pre business hours. All we could see were red windows with a few scantily dressed girls getting ready. There were couples walking hand in hand, families with kids in pram walking past the windows in addition to tourists and prospective clients. Everybody was going about as if there was absolutely nothing different about the place. We actually saw a group of Japanese tourists being briefed about the place by their guide and all the faces in the group looked as if they were being given some philosophy lecture. It was hilarious.
But what struck me about both these big cities was the amazing difference between both of them. Both were capitals of their respective countries and both were great tourist destinations. But both had a feel completely different from each other. Both were really unique in their own way. No skyscrapers marred the skyline in either of the cities. All the houses had exteriors preserved from the olden days. Only when you went inside, did you realise that we are not in the 17th century but in the technologically advanced 21st century. Amsterdam still has those tram lines running in the city that gives it such an old world charm. Calcutta had them too and still has a handful of them but they are not the main means of transport and they are definitely not as beautifully preserved and in perfect condition as the trams in Amsterdam. In India, we still have a lot of old architecture but most of them are confined to the temples and some government buildings and heritage hotels. People dont really live in them. If they are lucky they work in them. But having the structures preserved in their old world charm gives the benefit of having a time machine in your hand. Feel like living in this century....just pop inside any of the buildings. Prefer to go back to previous centuries....just walk out of the buildings and voila...you are back in time. Isnt that a nice feeling!

A sweet little surprise

Today I opened the mail box and had a really sweet surprise. Ma had actually sent me a poem! a really sweet and short poem. I will paste it here for all to see


I just read the poem that u have made
how well ur thoughts u could place
I never new that u could make things so great
It must be some magic that Supriyo has played.

I am happy to learn u enjoy studying
something I know u always did
May be the right settings is what u needed
I am sure u will get what u seeded.

I have to end here for it is getting late
I will write to u again when time I get.

I was really touched. so ma, this is for you. I hope you like it.

I read your sweet poem ma,
You really make me proud
Just how much you love me
your words say it clear and loud

I will work as hard as I can
I will do all that is there to be done
I have a long long way to go
I know my journey has just begun

But ma, dont you worry,
I will never ever give up
no matter how uphill the road may seem
I just need your blessings and love

But before I end,there is another little thing
I really need to say
If it was not for all that you did
I would not be where I am today

Good food and a little disaster

Hello all,

Thought I will describe to you all about the wonderful Mexican food I had yest. It was worth missing the painting class after all. The food was a lot better than the superbly expensive french eatery. Atleat I enjoyed the food though the ambience was not very nice. I found the place a bit too crowdy and noisy and ofcourse we contributed our bit to making it even more noisy. The walls were given the look of an old Iranian Cafe in the bylanes of churchgate and CST. And there was a big wooden, Red Indian guy at the door. once we entered we had to wait for a while before we got a table for ourselves. The place was packed to capacity and I am not surprised. The prices were very reasonable as compared to prices at other places in Holland. Both me and Edam had enchiladas while rest of them ordered for stuff like steak and lamb chops. The quantity was huge.....everybody was really stuffed. I remember the day when we went to meet mummy at Schipol and since we were hungry and I was not in a mood for a Big Mac, we wandered into a pasta shop. Those guys were selling pasta by weight and it was 5 euros for 10 gms!. I spent almost 10 euros and all I got was around 7 pasta pieces.....and I am not exaggerating. I felt awful and hungry. It was really too expensive. Yest the whole dish was 12 euros with taxes. Real value for money. The enchiladas came with a baked potatao in its jacket and topped with sour cream and soem french fries with a variety of dips. liked all the dips. one actually tasted like our very own date chutney though i am sure the ingredients were very diff. the enchilada was topped with sour cream and guacamole sauce. And the filling was a mishmash of chicken and baked beans with some spices. not hot but yet quite nice. very diff from the mexican stuff I had at chowpatty. Forget the name of that place. But anyway, not only the taste but even the look of the thing was diff. Ofcourse, in India we have Indianised versions of everything and I am not complaining. Actually I like Indian chinese lot more than real chinese food. It is a diff genre all together. So basically the food was good, the company was nice though it was getting a bit diff for me to understand what the Chinese and the Argentinian guys were saying, especially the Chinese guy. They have a really terrible accent. While I did not really have to wrack my brains over the Bulgarian guy....he was hardly saying anything. but all in all it was a nice eve except for the little disaster I had on our way to the restaurant. It could have been worse for both of us. We just narrowly escaped. The place outside the gym was packed with cycles and since the snow has been piled up on either side of the road, the place let for the cycles to park is really less and so they spill onto the main road. Ineffect the road left for the cyclists is really narrowed. and I, of all people, who never manages to keep up with Edam's speed, decided to cycle with him at the same pace yest, just along that narrow strip. and as luck would have it, my cycle handle got caught in his jacket pocket and we would have both landed, bottoms first on that hard snow. But luckily we both managed to jump off our cycles and keep our balance but in the process of jumping down, I hit my tail bone real hard on the cycle seat and felt a sudden pang of pain. I realised soon that the pain would not go away but would keep me company for some days. but what I did not realise was that the pain was not going to lessen but would steadily increase. now of course I have realised it and am hoping that it will go away soon. It is restricting my movements and I dont like it at all. Have all ready taken arnica but it does not seem to have any effect. I am praying it will.
anyway, that was what happened yest. today is another party. But a very diff one. Will write about it tomorrow. Have to get back to studies now. The online course is really superb and I want to extract the most out of it.
So till tomorrow
Ciao

A new view point

A contradiction to my earlier poem maybe,
But wonder what you would have done if for the first time, snow you would see

In other words, I admit I am done,
The snow,I no longer find it fun

The landscape, I find it all so bleak
A little greenery and a little warmth is now what I seek.

I nearly broke an ankle the other day
so no wonder, I want the snow to go away.

Oh god, make this horrid snow melt
I admit, I dont feel the way, I initially felt

I like it when the snow actually falls
but on the ground, I dont like it all

Every morning I am scared
Cycling down the slope I have not yet dared

I trudge my cycle all the way
and it is not easy, if I may dare say

I want to run down the path as I once used to
So pleeease god, melt the snow, please do.

I once heard someone say
On a very bright and sunny day

By law man is a real fool
When it is hot,
he wants it cool
When it is cold he wants it hot
Always wanting what is not

Maybe a classic example of this I sound
But I really dont care, I want to feel the dry ground

So dear snow, kindly go away
Let the sun melt you with its golden rays

MY FIRST EXPERIENCE WITH SNOW

Hello all,
I got up in the morning and saw the most beautiful sight in the whole world......the sight of the falling snow. It was soooo beautiful. I was mesmerized. Just a little raindrop in disguise. But I love this disguise. I want it to snow all thru the day and I want to see the ground all covered with snow. What I dont want , is the snow to melt and create slush everywhere. That will not be nice. But for the moment, I want to enjoy my first experience with snow. And I want the whole world to know, just how I feel. And so I penned these few lines. Hope you all like it.

I OPENED MY EYES
AND HAD A PLEASANT SURPRISE,
EVERYTHING AROUND WAS ABSOLUTELY WHITE.
GUESS WHAT, SNOW HAD FALLEN IN THE NIGHT.

I WAS AS EXCITED AS COULD BE
FALLING SNOW WAS SOMETHING I DESPEARTELY WANTED TO SEE
OUTSIDE MY HOUSE I RAN TO PLAY
NO KNOWING HOW LONG THE SNOW WOULD STAY

IT WAS SUCH A PRETTY SIGHT
THE LANDSCAPE WAS TRANSORMED OVERNIGHT
THE FOOTBALL FIELD WHICH TILL YEST WAS ALL GREEN
WAS COVERED WITH SNOWFLAKES
THERE WAS NOT A BLADE TO BE SEEN

THE TREES AND THE GROUND
THE ROOFTOPS ALL AROUND
HAD SLIPPED INTO A LOVELY WHITE GOWN
WHEN THE SNOW HAD SOFTLY FALLEN DOWN

THE SNOW WAS FALLING THICK AND FAST
THEIR MAGIC ON ME WAS TRULY CAST
THERE WAS SNOW ALL OVER THE PLACE
I LOOKED UP AND A FEW LANDED ON MY FACE

I AM TRULY MESMERIZED
MY FIRST EXPERIENCE WITH SNOW, I WILL ALWAYS PRIZE
WHEN THE SUN IS UP,THE SNOW WILL MELT
BUT I WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER THE JOY I FELT
WHEN I OPENED MY EYES
AND HAD A PLEASANT SURPRISE

A long time since i have written anything in my blog. have been kinda busy doing a lot of things. last week was pramod's defence and then there was a dinner. enjoyed my self thoroughly. then vijay had come over to stay at our place. so was busy with him. then there was the potluck dinner at madhavi's place. then we had invited pramod's parents over. so my hands were really full....erm actually overflowing. but i am not complaining. i enjoy socialising with people. but i need some privacy as well. if i am at home people just call up or worse, just drop in and waste a lot of my time. so nowadays i go and sit in the library. this way i end up doing a lot more than what i manage to do at home.
while i was sitting in the library the other day,i wrote a few lines. thought i will include it in my blog. so here it goes

Weekends are fine
Weekdays I have no time
Have a lot of studies you see
want to earn a lot
Dont care if it is in euros, dollars or rupees.

Each moment is valuable
"The world's best doctor"
I crave for this label
Yet I dont want to be rude
"Don't disturb me sounds so crude"
So I have found out a way
I sit in the library all day
Finish all the work during the week
So the weekends are free for me to seek
some relaxation and fun
cos now a part of my studies are already done

Monday is back to work again
to the libraray via the narrow lane
I work and work till I drop dead
and then at night
I snuggle into my warm bed.

erm...so that was what i wrote. but it is really true. i just love studying at the library. so much gets done. i really want to give this exam my best shot. dont want to waste time gossiping.

today is my first painting class. i am a bit excited. wonder how it is going to be. will keep my blog updated with my art class happenings.
i think i will end now. havent done much today afternoon. want to finish revising the whole book this month so that by next month i can start with the papers. that should give me some confidence

gouda