Winters in Indore

Christmas Decorations outside Central Mall

I have always loved winters just like any other season. Never found it cruel like many say, that’s may be because I had always been in the warmth of my home, cuddled up by my mom. Both my parents were born during winters, and the got married in the same season. But, I never realized how deep my love was until I came here to Goa!! It’s December and I felt cold only once yet!!

Ummmm.. Garadu

These days when I get calls from my friends.. narrating the accounts of their long drives which they ended by devouring garadu, bhutte ka kees and malpua near Sanjay Sethu.. I can’t help but envy them… All I can do is.. sit here, at the amphitheater wishing that the cool breeze messes up my hair.. hoping that the sun stops frying my brain… But its far from happening!! I love being here at GIM in Goa.. but I really miss my Indori winters!!

A day before exams @Celebrations, one of my favorite hangout places!

I usually started wearing my dusky fine woolens from mid-November. It used to get a little chilly in the wee hours while I would be fast asleep in the comfort of my frayed blue quilt. I simply loved the four months of winters.. when I would get goosebumps while riding my poor old Activa @ 75kmph at 9am on my way to college. The streets wouldn’t crowd up like the other seasons as most Indorians would be reluctant to come out of their cozy warm houses, so early on a typical winter morning. The aroma of garma-garam Poha-Jalebi from the small restaurants at Rajwada, 56 shops and JMB (a popular Indori sweet and namkeen shop) easily slowed us down, while the chuski of chai would give us the energy for sailing through the day.

Sirpur Lake

Oh how I miss my slow paced yet fulfilling Indori life! My winter hangout places included a small lake near NH3, MHOW camp area, Khajrana temple, MR10 bridge, pavements of the airport road, parking of my coaching class at MG road (just because most good looking guys would pass through as most gyms were located nearby). CCD, Barista Lavazza, Subway, Pizza Hut, McDonalds and Domino’s, the local bakeries and juice shops were appealing all year round. But these other places grow really beautiful to give a warm welcome to the shivery November with the Rose Ringed Parakeets on the Peepal trees. On one such days, oldies could be seen sitting in the colony parks while their grand children would be playing in the sun! You could find a bunch of school students fighting the cold by luxuriating in the sheesha lounges in Vijay Nagar, and spot couples relishing ice-cream candies under the Krishnapura chatriyaan, early in the evening. While the newly weds will be found in sarafa, where the jewelry showrooms would turn into chat shops during the dry windy nights.

NH3

Indore has a relatively more cosmopolitan culture compared to other cities in Madhya Pradesh. People here, are fond of everything.. arts, business, cricket, fashion, festivals, financial markets, food, gossip, malls, news, people, politics, technology, TV serials and most importantly, gossip over food!! Yeah, we are obsessed with our eating habits which includes talking necessarily while eating. Their food preferences are derived from the potpourri of Bengali, Marathi, Muslim, Mughlai, Gujarati, Rajasthani, Punjabi, South Indian, continental and Malwi cuisines. As all these people came down to Indore, so did their festivals.. Christmas, Lohri, Makar Sakranti (Pongal), Vasant Panchmi, Maha Shivratri which are celebrated with such zeal that it continues over weeks.

Poha

Jalebi

Soon I’ll be going back home.. just for 6 days, I will be able to put my woolens on, go on the long drives and freeze, and chomp on the crazy Indori food!! 😀

PS: Some pics are not my clicks.

Oblivion Is Bliss!!!

That impulse is dying down..

As the child in me is growing up..

As I’m learning to register the facts..

That the bonds are as strong..

As the need of the hour..

That relationships might not last forever..

That it always is a matter of convenience..

Which is why they tell, what is partially true..

And it did not happen out of the blue..

Things have always been like this..

It struck me today.. It struck so late..

Now its hard to keep alive, the faith..

All I can say now is, that oblivion is bliss!

Am happy that Ma’am inspired you.. Wish you good luck for the rest of your life..
Love
Priyanka 🙂

Continue reading

World Sparrow Day

I feel like a free bird today.. I don’t know how to express my happiness.. but I can of course share the reason of being happy.. I just got admission in GIM.. my dream college!! yay 😀

Anyways.. today is world sparrow day and I’d like you to visit this website and have a look… Am a little short of words today.. Will write again soon!!

I love my birds 🙂

PS:

Do read the comment by Eris below.. It’s osm! ❤ 🙂

Vague Dreams

My dreams are always the weirdest amongst my friends… They are funny and vivid and senseless and amazing.. Things change shape in less than a millionth fraction of a second and a series of inter-connected scenes are created that have no link with each other and yet they are all connected to me!!! I’m sharing them today because Kritika had a horrible one yesterday and I need to make her feel better about it.. By narrating mine, I’ll make her realize that such dreams are stupid and they won’t come true!

Last Night… I slept after telling an old friend.. the story of a girl who ran away with her boyfriend, struggled for saving her life and later, with the help of her family started a whole new episode. So the dream began with her face hovering over my motionless body (oh no I was not dead, I was asleep)… She was mumbling something in a language unknown to me and a tear dropped from her eyes and the next moment I saw a clear water river.. I could see small white stones and grey rock inside the water that were causing disruption in the motion of water.. Yes, no fishes or sea horses in my dream! I know it’s disappointing. Anyways, the small waves turned into a white wedding gown, the lower end of which was caressing the grass as the bride walked down the aisle .. there was no one in the entire area except her… but she did not care, I guess.. she moved towards a mirror and looked straight into my eyes.. oh my, it wass me looking at me.. and all of a sudden.. I relax my raised eye-brow and my lips twirled into a ok-now-I-understand kind of smile and I murmured with a promising simper.. I do!!! And then I heard my sister shouting at me, her irritating words – ‘I don’t care if you die of hunger but you will not get anything to eat until you find my lost lipstick.. How could you give it to Aashi for playing?? You are such an irresponsible shameless irksome fool…..’ That was it.. I picked up a knife and cut the gas-pipe and picked up a match-box from pooja-ghar, opened it and took out a match-stick and almost rubbed it against the box.. But, may be she was quicker than I was.. She jumped over me and I fell on floor bearing the weight of both our bodies and my head hit the sharp edge of her granite kitchen slab and I felt something hot… May be I succeeded in lighting a fire but then I felt a warm fluid in my eyes and the next second, I was sobbing with the same girl who was crying over someone’s dead body.. I’m sure a lot more happened in the dream but I remember only this much!!

PS: If you have a clue why my dreams are so crazy, or if you think they are not because this is what you call a normal dream, or you have a dream to share.. go ahead and tell me!!
Have a happy Sunday!! 🙂

Priyanka

Chocolates!

My mood easily sways.. (‘~’)

Chocolates help always.. ~</:-)

Dairy milk when I’m tired.. zZzzzZZz..

Munch pop-chocs when I’m bored.. 😐

Ferrero Rocher if I’m sad.. 😦

Munch it is.. when I’m glad.. 🙂

Hot chocolate while it’s raining.. “;’.’,’;’.’.”..

Bournville when he is flirting ❤

Melody when I have to share..

If it’s five-star I don’t care.. :C

I’ll eat Milky Bar alone.. 😦

Because Relish is long gone, ^_^

I have to eat Bar-one, :d

And I miss Kismi Bars.. ^..^

Personally hate Mars!! <\3

It has got to be Kit-kat.. !^_*!

Whenever I need a break!! \m/

I love to have Choco-pies.. :*

When all the fun dies!! :-{

Crackle is a school time favorite.. :’)

There is a lot to relate.. 😎

But time is what is short..

So I’ll have Cadbury shot!! 😛

PS: I’d love to know what are your favorites, must-eat once in 2 days, I recommend you to eat, not even look at chocolates!!

once upon a time

Please read the poem first… then come back later and read below to clear your doubst!!

I had to ask him, the author (Colin)
Why did that angel visit the earth, Colin? Why did s/he not go back when he thought everyone was mad?
Can’t understand
Stupid Priyanka

He is so generous.. elaborated as follows:
Dear Priyanka

The only stupid question is the one you don’t ask!

I think the idea behind the poem is that even high-ups (angels, say)can be enticed into negativity. Don’t we all fall for it without realising it as we do so? Then it becomes a habit. There are some people we know who always look on the dark side of things. Not us, of course, we are never negative.

So the angel is a metaphor for people who imagine that they are high and mighty, that being negative is beneath them. But as soon as they get into negative company they succumb and become just like all the rest. The angel couldn’t leave the earth because he was perversely attracted to negativity and then it just became a habit.

For me, people who say, “Yes, but…” are the negative ones. “Yes, the world ought to be a nice place, but…” It’s just a bad habit that they’ve got into.

Does that help?

Colin

colinblundell

an angel visited the Earth:
for many years he thought
everybody on Earth was mad
because he could not understand

what it was they were enjoying;
then he caught the Earth disease
and began to enjoy Negative Emotions
just as they had always done

and he could no longer see the madness;
when the heavenly adjudicator came down
to tell him he had failed the test
he got madder and madder…

failed the test and forgotten something
and must remain on Earth until he remembered
what it was and had disentangled himself
from all the curious delights

of indulging in negative emotions:
sinking into the bottomless swamp
of being gloomy or bad-tempered
self-pitying   tart or caustic

View original post

Grandpa!!!

He would have been as tall as Akshay Kumar.. And, his built, similar to Late Mr. Sunil Dutt (as I have estimated after looking at the old snapshots). By now, he would have turned 90 (My grandma is 82.. so, another guess).. Even at the this age, I believe, he would still have been muscular!

 All that I know about my grand father is through my grandma’s narrations, old video CDs of his children’s wedding and my own imagination! My parents don’t like to talk about him because it makes them emotionally weak, they feel miserable.. They still don’t want to believe that he is no more. As for me, it was not hard to accept because he passed away in 1989 and I was born 2 years later!

Late Shri Sitaram Sabu, was born in Udaipurwati when India was under British rule.. Maa (Grandma) does not remember his birthdate (I wanna know his sun-sign). They got married when Maa was 12 years old (this she remembers, huh!) and he would have been 20 (this she assumed).

He had lived in Rajasthan, Kolkata, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh (Indore). He was a part of the Indian struggle for independence. They had 8 children.. 5 boys (2 of whom met their end in childhood) and 2 girls. He was a wonderful, a dependable father to all his children alike and the cutest grandfather to my siblings. I’m the only child in my generation who was unable to meet him, see him.. who was neither pampered nor blessed by him..

This does not make me sad, but deep inside I have this longing.. that if only.. he was there to teach me to speak, to walk, to eat with my own hands.. to scold me if I did something wrong and later, try to convince me to talk to him.. to buy me new clothes every now and then and tell my mom off, if she complained.. to bring me chocolates without any occasions, to give me his collection of stamps as a keepsake (which I have already obtained from my father).. to tell his tale and basically love his smallest, cutest, and most adorable grand-daughter.. I just feel that I was deprived of such a lovely relationship, every time I come across a grand-dad and his little angel in his arms, or find someone who looks like a grand-father!

He was gone before I came, yet I never complain.. I don’t know why!! Knowing about him brings tears in my eyes, but it never makes me unhappy.. I don’t know why!! I never met him, yet I miss him.. I don’t know why!! I dunno him, yet I love him.. .. I don’t know why!! (Please tell me if you have the answers). My closest guess is that there’s a part of him in me which does not like to see me upset..

I know you can’t read this but I hope you do Bauji!

Pranaam

Pinky 🙂 

Sweet Ain’t Good

I was talking to an old friend..
And what had been once a trend..
Happened to me once again..


A long time it had been..
Since someone called me sweet..
It would, once have been a treat..


But, there's nothing to celebrate..
Today, I'm in a different state..
Okay, I'll speak it straight..


May be I'm not sweet anymore..
Now, I prefer spicy, or..
Even lemon like sour!!


I have changed with time..
And I would in fact admire..
If you find me salt-like..


Back then I was naive..
Learnt with time, I have..
A lesson that's pretty grave..


From an elder's point of view..
That all that is simply too..
sweet may rot and be no good!

What Keeps Me Going..

A few things I do for Mindless Entertainment..

I sit back, close my eyes, turn some soft music on (usually instrumental) at low volume and concentrate on it.. Aah!! It’s so pacifying!!

I listen to The Arctic Light, and the lullaby from The Twilight Saga a lot!

A leisurely walk with a friend or two.. or a conversation on phone with my closest friends.. chatting about stuff other than college or family or future.. calms me down!

I pray at times with eyes wide open.. watching the idol of Lord Krishna.. it gives me hope and strength besides soothing my brain!

I look at the old pictures of everyone.. or listen to the stories my grandma has to tell.. or play with my 5-year-old niece.. It takes off all the loads from my mind!!

I try to train my birds.. although they are a nasty bunch of disobedient budgies.. but it really makes me happy!

There are many other things that I enjoy doing…. or that help me relax.. but these 5 top the list!

I hope you enjoyed reading.. and if you are free for a minute or two.. Go ahead and tell me what things you do… other than work, which make you feel good!

Cheers!!

Priyanka 🙂