The other side of the grass is always greener!

We all have fantasies that we hope that it may come true sometime in future. But sometimes when it actually does happen, you don't really think it was really all that worth it, it could be meeting someone of whom you had a better mental image than in reality or doing something you thought would be super fun!

One such fantasy of mine in my teens was to live alone or with friends and do anything I want with noone to supervise me or discipline me from watching T.V. to eating whatever I want, wear whatever i want... or to go anywhere I want to! I live that 'fantasy' very often whenever S is away on travel. The initial two days are fun, to be with myself and all the ruminating! I do watch T.V. and eat/not eat if i want to, or read as much as I want, without any practical chores to do...but by the third day, my feet needs to be dragged to go back to an empty home. There is an eerie silence in the house...which is kinda prickly!

One sentence that you can often hear me saying is 'An individual is an individual', but this turns into an overload of individual space. Indeed, the other side of the grass is always greener!!

The Baronial Ellora Caves!

Its a no-brainer that I went to the splendid Ellora Caves over the weekend! :-) We made plans last weekend but finally did'nt make it coz we did not make proper arrangements. I have read so much about the Ajantha & Ellora Caves in History at school, I had great expectations. It did not disappoint me one bit, the architecture and the grandiose is simply magnificient...

Its about a 4.5 hrs drive and we spent about 4-5 hours exploring the caves on Saturday and we left Aurangabad on Sunday and drove back for another 5 hrs...S drove the car throughout,put up my legs and slept halfway!!! The natural light falls into some of the caves so beautifully..its a sight worth watching and I am assuming it is a deliberate attempt for natural light to flow in!! Some of the caves smell of bat poo but i guess that is something that can't be helped...and in some of the caves, restoration work is going on and hence are closed for visitors...There are about 35 caves or more in Ellora alone! By the time we finished exploring all the caves, it became dark and it started raining! S and I went to a nearby snack place and had kandha bhajiyas (onion fritters), and enjoyed watching the rain, while talking about our childhood days...it was a very pleasant evening!!

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped to buy Paithani sarees, which is an Aurangabad special and an age old art of weaving. I don't wear any sarees at all, so instead I picked up a Paithani Double Bedsheet...in black!! ( Yes, I love black!!)

I guess i really need to build my stamina coz i am feeling extremely tired and dragged myself to work today! My whole body aches and I look like I have worked hard at the construction site with the local mason!

But, S and I really enjoyed this trip that we plan to do many more such trips often...

Home Improvement Idea I - Revisited!

...Instead of spending some more money on buying furniture for the T.V. room in addition to the sofa in the Living room, diwan in the balcony, and numerous other necessities like double beds in every room....I converted an extra mattress into this low seating with colorful cushions thrown in....a cozy setting, ideal to cuddle up and watch T.V. or movies together... :-) It also has storage space where I can dump all the extra bedsheets, pillows and sundries...

Also, there are cloud shaped backrests which are not seen, as there are cushions in front of them!! Its the same thing, just a better photo!! :-)

Home Improvement Idea II

This is a simple paper light I picked up in Pondicherry. As part of customizing the T.V.Room, I pestered S to hang this up for me. Then, I took some artificial creepers and covered up the wires and viola! I have a pretty nice looking addition to the room which also provides light;-) What do you think? :-)

Natural fragrances are something!

When Ritu visited me, her sweet little daughter gave me a big bunch of Rajnigandha ( I have to say that I had no clue about these flowers before, though I have always curiously eyed it at the florist's shops!). It exudes such a lovely fragrance in the entire home, I have one more reason to get back home! No perfumes or room freshners can match the fragrance that nature offers - be it rajnigandha in this case or the smell of Jasmine ( I love fresh buds of Jasmine!).

I am addicted to this fragrance that I replenish it from time to time! An indulgence that is simple yet refreshing!

A weekend well spent...

Did a little bit of everything this weekend....and I have come to work with a good feeling! :-) Saw 'Jaane tu' on Saturday and thoroughly enjoyed it, a light-hearted romance with some humour every now and then...Both S and I did a bit of cleaning too, as I was equipped with the vaccum and S with Colin! ;-)...I am surprised to say that I actually enjoy cleaning and its almost therapeutic...went grocery shopping after the movie and made pasta for dinner! Pasta is something I could never imagine myself eating, but recently I have acquired a taste for it, thanks to S!

Sunday began late as I lounged around reading the paper in leisure and we had a heavy breakfast. S and I are planning to go to Rome in December and kept discussing the finances, leave at work and of course, the dates!! I have to figure out how to get the Schengen Visa done too and hopefully ( my fingers crossed!) our trip gets confirmed soon!!! I am soooooo excited...
That's how we planned our trip to Singapore last year and it was super fun!! We watched many movies too and played a game of scrabble in the evening, which was a lot of fun! All in all, we enjoyed ourselves TOTALLY!!

Edited to add: I am planning some new home improvements...will post pics soon as soon as they get done!..and oh! i almost forgot, I managed to get a haircut too!!

A MUST watch!

I saw an awesome movie called 'Pay it Forward' last night on HBO. What a beautiful movie! The movie starts off in the classroom and the teacher gives a Social Science project to the kids about changing the world and to believe that Goodness till exists. One of the kids ( the same kid who was the protagonist in 'The Sixth Sense') comes up with an ingenious project idea and the story moves on to show how the little project becomes a movement. It was a touching movie and reiterates at every point that there is Goodness in each one of us, just needs to be discovered by self!

I was bawling at the end of the movie ( I know I am hyper-sensitive!) and was gasping for breath, ya I cried sooo much. It inspired me to be a better person at some level and I will work on it. I don't want to reveal how it ends and spoil your experience.

I am sure there will be reruns of this movie, do watch it if you can !!!