Happy birthday Madhu Paiya!

That is how my mother calls him lovingly ( sometimes!)...and it has stuck on! It's my darling brother's birthday today...this year is really special coz he is also getting married this year...and I am just counting the days to go to India and enjoy the celebrations, food, fun, laughter and cherish all the good memories I am going to savour for the rest of my life...I have looked forward to his getting married for a long time now...and I think I am more excited than he is! :D

We are very close to each other, and when he got engaged, I decided to go surprise him in India (though the decision to go was really last-minute)! S insisted that I go and I am really glad I did...I want to be there for him for all the important events in his life, just like he has always been there for me...

I remember when we were in school, and as both parents were working, they trusted him to bring me home safely ( though he was a lil kid himself!) ...and gave him specific instructions and to never let go of my hand...ever! :) He took it upon himself to literally never let go of my hand and even if I wanted to itch, I wasn't allowed to! :)

We were in the same school and I would run to him for EVERYTHING! If I forgot the vegetables for lunch, my skirt came off, my ponytail came off....god! I was such a pain in the ass...and when I think about it now, he was a teenager stuck with a little girl and it embarrassed him too...there are so many such incidents that come to mind....and I must admit I thought he was very bossy sometimes and hated him(sometimes!) while growing up...but he was always wonderful, very protective of me....and I always turn to him for everything next to my parents! ...or we plot together to escape my parent's wrath! We look out for each other... In fact, S often tells me that I spoke ONLY about Madhu when we first met! ...I am glad they get along very well now and they gang up on me and tease me about things....I am very happy that they are good friends now and it is very important to me.

We don't talk to each other every single day but often find ways to communicate every other way - be it offline messages, the photoblog, facebook, skype calls on weekends....and I am updated about everything and everyone all the time! I feel like I am never away from him....in that sense! :) He has a great sense of humour and keeps me updated about all the wonderful things I miss about India, Chennai - movies, music, good eat outs, gossip, fun stuff - I catch up with everything as and when I can!

So dear Madhu Paiya, here's wishing you a wonderful year ahead filled with loads of love, happiness, success and good health. You are the most wonderful brother I could have ever had...and I am so glad I have a sibling like you! :)

My historical trip to Berlin!

Keeping with our tradition of celebrating every anniversary in a new city, we decided to celebrate in Berlin this time! On our to-do list for a long time, we thought it was high time we planned this trip...with this, we have almost covered all of Europe! Whoop!

We stayed in this lovely apartment (http://www.all-berlin-apartments.com/en/berlin-apartments/ref_1519/)...and we made our own breakfast and the odd dinners too...felt right at home, fighting over who would wash the dishes ;)...it was on the 4th floor with no elevator, so we got some free exercise too after the long walks around the city everyday! But we always prefer an apartment or a B&B to a hotel, it is economical, homely and very convenient! If you are planning a holiday in Berlin, I would highly recommend staying here...

It was unbearably hot, as much as it would be at "home" aka India...though I expected it to be sunny and kind of summery, it was scathingly hot! I have to put this down here, we found this amazing bubble tea promoted by a company called BoBoq ( http://boboq.de)...the "bubbles" are tapioca pearls and I could not stop dreaming about the drink all day! S would very thoughtfully plan our day to include a visit to Boboq and left to me, I could have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner! Try it, its amazing! It was the highlight of my holiday, indeed! :D
I love watching people and when you travel, it is so much more fun - you see a wide variety of people, clothes, behavior, trends, smiles, food, life, culture....the list goes on! Here's my personal observations in Berlin!

• Every single person in Berlin has a tattoo - the most popular places being the nape of the neck, ankles, chest and shoulders! If there was someone who didn't have one, it must have been a tourist or "outsider"! S felt at home coz he has one too! I want to remain untouched...
  

• Women are very tall and well built, no petite women there....mostly!
• People are pretty friendly and try to be helpful, even if they could not speak English, sometimes!
• I don't understand a word of German except for the usual "Guten Tag" or "Danke", but I felt as if I understood the language. Weird, right?

• The city is very very clean and people are very disciplined. S and I were pleasantly surprised to see that every single person makes it a point to buy tickets on the metro. There is no check or a checkpoint to stop people from simply taking a free ride. Pretty impressive ethical conduct!
  
• Brimming with history, there are so many historical monuments and things to do...we were spoilt for choice! The "story of berlin" was very informative and very very interesting...would have been great if the commentary was in English too!

• We managed to go see the "Berlin Wall" and I got a mini-history lesson from S! What? I learnt Social Studies in Hindi...so am kinda weak in History and Geography and add topography to that, while we are on that topic! ;)

• In the midst of a super-hot day, as we roamed around the city, we found this lovely fountain and I literally jumped into it with all fervor....like someone ravaged in a desert who found the oasis...
• Of course, we did a little bit of shopping...found some interesting stuff in a market filled with lovely artsy pictures, knick-knacks and other pretty things for your home! I did bring something back for our home, will post pictures later on a different post, maybe?
  

S ( I know, he is the BEST!) got me a DSLR for my birthday and I am like a little kid with the best new toy, full of glee...I can't stop clicking! :) Will be posting lots of pictures on the photoblog!

The big fat Greek Holiday!

I love new beginnings...the new year is not just another day for me. It brings new hopes and dreams for me. From small beginnings come great things and I firmly believe in it. We spent the end of 2008 exploring the Bella Italy, and what an exciting ride 2009 was! Maintenant (now), we spent the end of 2009 in another beautiful country - Greece! I am really excited about 2010. I am positive that its going to be a fun ride this year too! :-)

Exploring a new country and that too, Greece and to spend New Year's eve in a lovely country was a double bonanza for us. For me, the best part of travelling is about observing the people, their characteristics, the culture and of course, the beauty of nature and the finer aspects of every region.

1. The islands of Greece have breathtakingly beautiful beaches which was expected...but I didn't expect to see the islands nestled between lovely mountains and the beautiful blue waters everywhere. Expecting to see dry lands, I was pleasantly surprised to see a lot of greenery as well.

2. The Greeks are very well known for their prominent features globally and are indeed blessed with sharp features, especially noses and most of them have very attractive facial features. I had a great time simply watching people ;-)( What??!! Nothing is wrong with appreciating beauty, right?)

3. As opposed to the rest of Europe or France, the Greek women dress pretty conservatively; mostly wearing tights or leggings and a long sweater top mostly. I did see a huge variety of boots too which was really fun! I didn't see too many funky 'punk' hairstyles or piercings.

4. As we roamed around the city, I also noticed that the Greeks are not only hospitable and friendly,they are also family-oriented people and have large happy families. Beautiful little kids play with their parents/grandparents and enjoy themselves in the park or squares.

5. Though some parts of Athens are quite dirty except for the touristy areas; the Metro stations are impeccably clean and maintained beautifully. Every station looks gorgeous and is very interesting with old excavations retained, interesting pictures, huge clocks, beautiful paintings. Its a landmark in itself!







6. As we were holidaying during the festive season, we had the pleasure of sharing their cinnamon sweets sprinkled with walnuts, crackers dunked in honey in almost every cafe, restaurant and bakery. It was quite interesting to taste the local cuisine.

S could not get enough of the Greek coffee either! I tried it, but i think its an acquired taste.









7. The best part of our trip was our stay at Milos, one of the islands in Greece. Everywhere we saw these marketing captions towards promoting Milos - "Milos is for lovers". I could'nt agree more, Milos is definitely for those who love nature; as its blessed with loads of natural beauty and you can just never have enough of the calm serene views. S and I had a long walk along the sea-side and I think that sight will remain etched in my memory forever. It was GORGEOUS and CALMING, all at the same time!!

It was a long 8-hr ferry ride, 4-hr bus ride and tiresome ferry trips that made me nauseous. But it was really worth every inch when we reached the captivating islands of the lovely GREECE!

Different shades of Paris...

I am amazed at how almost everyone has a toy-like dog and the dogs are extremely well behaved. I mean how many times have you seen a dog remain silent and just not bark at all !!! Yes, none of these dogs bark and they just remain cute and silent as they are carried around or tag along with their master, sometimes even without a leash!

I am really amused when I see little kids less than 3 years old maybe, play with toy babies...the funny part is these kids are pushed around in their prams by their moms. These kids in turn, have babies that THEY push around in a toy pram...its really cute and funny! :)

I find it strange that when people meet each other on the road or in the Metro, they don't really make conversation. But they meet each other specially in a cafe in the evenings to just have a chat...why not do it when you meet otherwise?

I was pleasantly surprised to taste our very own lassi packaged as 'yogurt icecream' referred to as 'yaout glace' here with some fresh fruits. It is basically creamy lassi with toppings of fruits, tutti frutti or chocolate as you like..its healthy, nutritious and low calorie...its not too sweet either! What a way to package it!! :) You don't really feel guilty about having dessert!

I am curious to know why the beggars on the streets, almost everyone has a pet dog. When they are unable to fend for themselves, they have a pet dog too? Mind you, they treat their pets very well and give them proper dog food everyday, the pedestrians can all see it. A friend told me that the pedestrians give them money for the dogs out of pity, maybe? ( and yes, there ARE beggars in Paris too!). India is not the only country with beggars and elephants!

I don't understand why...

Its ok to smile and laugh when you are happy, but its a sure sign of weakness if you cry.

If a man is assertive and confident, he has a great personality while a confident and assertive woman is arrogant and aggressive.

If a man prioritizes his family over everything else, he is a family man while a woman is unprofessional and makes excuses.

If a woman has a career and even remotely ambitious, she is running after money.

If women chat up, its gossip, while the men are having an intellectual conversation.

When the woman takes up a job, it is only expected that she support the family when the standard of living is so high while the man helps out a bit at home, he is nothing less than a martyr or hero!

If a man gets promoted, he is capable and deserving while the woman surely must be having an affair with her boss or flirts too much to get there.

Disclaimer: The above observations are not reflective of my personal life but just a few things I have noticed happening in and around me, some of them with me too!! I am also not a woman's libber or anything, I just find that this is absolute discrimination.

Perspective!

To get a perspective on this, I asked S what would be his impression of me as a third person or for that matter, what does he think? Do I appear arrogant?

To which his response is a well-thought out answer, he says Firstly, you are much taller than the average Indian male, which not many are comfortable with.Secondly, you are not the coy demure woman, but a confident woman who speaks her mind with absolutely no fear, even with me.Thirdly, I am not saying this as your husband, but even looking at you as a third person, you are not over-bearing or dominating. You are just so sure of yourself which is fantastic and I love that in you. So chill babe, you are cool and its a good trait and many people work towards getting where you are now.

He was like, to give you an example, your tailor ( we were discussing this while returning home from the tailor shop!) ...he welcomes you so warmly and goes J Madam..J Madam...and does so much to accomodate to your urgency or needs... I did'nt see his behave so nicely with the other women there. why do you think he does that?

Because, you treat him with respect and you are really nice to him. You laugh and joke with him like you would do with any normal person....So you are a lovely person! Your spirit and enthusiasm is really infectious and endearing...

Now, you know why I love S so much!!! :P ( It made my day to hear that from him, genuinely!!) :-)

Mother-tongue???!! yeah! I have a tongue!

When we moved to Pune, I thought we would be the only Tamilians ( yup, I am a tamilian who is sometimes harassed for being one, read this episode). But I am surprised to hear a lot of tamil in and around me and I feel really happy on hearing tamil :) .

No! I have no allegiance to a particular region or language. But for me, to speak in tamizh - means to speak with my family, feeling at home, something that comes naturally to me, of being extremely comfortable speaking my own language that flows easily. Of course, I can speak very fluently in Hindi ( I studied in a Central School, infact I learnt social studies in Hindi!! ) or English but to speak in tamizh means informality. I can let go of any formality and be myself....It makesit easier for me to relate to something that person refers to or explains.

I used to find it really wierd when S would speak to me in English when we were engaged.....no, he is not a 'peter'( a term used by tamilians to refer to someone who shows off that he/she speaks good english). In his own words, " Bloody hell, I think in English, so its difficult for me to convert to Tamizh and speak all the time". Now he speaks fantastic tamizh after more than 4 years of marraige, and the credit goes to you-know-who ( lots of people give me the credit)! :D

I remember that as a kid my mom used to help me and Anna learn to read / write tamizh by reading all the proverbs that would come in between commercial in good old doordarshan. She strongly believed that its extremely important that her children should know their mother tongue as well in addition to Hindi/English. Being a linguist herself, she can speak various languages easily which has helped her in so many ways to settle down easily in a new environment or to make friends with someone. Similarly, as I can speak Hindi fluently, it has been so easy to make friends or for that matter, survive in a non-tamil speaking city! Isnt that reason enough to learn more languages? Isnt learning different languages fun? The mushy side of me would always want to know how you say 'I love you' in a different language if I meet someone....

Unfortunately, some parents these days dont seem to feel the same way.The kind of emphasis english gets, I dont think any language does. I do understand the importance of good communication skills and of speaking good english, especially when it comes to your progress in career. But isn't it important to be able to understand what your loved ones speak at home, even if you have not grown up there?

I have always noticed how children of mixed parentage, for example, a child who has a tamizh mother and a punjabi father, who should ideally speak both tamizh as well as punjabi, in most cases can speak neither. Infact, I have met so many tamilians who are born and brought up in Mumbai, say "Mujhe tamil malum hi nahi hai....I am a typical Mumbaite"!....very proudly!!! Sadly, they dont realize that they are the losers!!! I feel like they dont have any real identity, neither here nor there....no belongingness!!!

So, now all of you know I am a proud tamilian and my kids (when I am blessed with them!) will definitely speak/read/write tamizh, irrespective of where they are brought up so that their grandparents, relatives and others can speak to them freely. We will encourage them to learn different languages, and most importantly, feel proud of their roots!!