“Sabb Chalta Hai” Attitude

Back to Homepage

Many of my friends and relatives say that I am spoilt being in foreign land for so long. We sound strange the way we interpret the indian lifestyle and the behaviour of fellow indians per se. Further they say our gypsy-status during last few years have changed the way we percieve the indian way of living and we’ve started comparing this great country with the other part of the world in literal terms, and we need to take a holistic approach while doing so as it’d be unfair to rate such a huge democracy of multi-lingual, multi-religion and multi ethnic groups. I completely do agree that India (rather Bharatvarsh) has been a great civilization and has a glorified past and present that we're really proud of, and has been beyond anyone's capability to be evaluated or compared in its entirety across any geography. So the question is not whether our present is on a firm foundation or not but whether we're leveraging the advantage we've gained over the centuries on the social and educational and economical fronts. And the answer is clearly "NO". The reason is "Sabb chalta Hai" attitude.

What is this ‘sabb chalta hai' attitude all about? I guess it’s not necessarily a bad idea to have this attitude in general as it’s a complementary trait for adaptability which is virtue of a good human being and a professional. However, as far as I’ve witnessed it over the years, it has costed we Indians immensely in all spheres of development. Littering, honking, shouting (rather barking), impetient outrage, bribing (chaai-paani at the minimum), displaying money and/or muscle-power every now and then, vandellism, nepotism, black-marketing, etc. is so common and rampant (and believe me most of the times it could have been avoided) that I wonder whom are we waiting for to come and clean this mess for us.

We keep on hearing that a disciplined Indian on foreign soil immediately starts behaving wayward the moment he touches mother land. In no time We adopt the good sanitation habits, good social practices, other good prevalent practices across the globe in terms of lifestyle, social securitiy, other richer cults, caring for human life (and much more) but we don't waste even a split second to come back to our moment we touch at IGI airport, New Delhi. Is that the bloody dirty gene that's the culprit.. no if that would have been the case then why i was clean gene being an alien. Actually that our 'sabb chalta hai attitute.. This disease (rather a cancer of our society) that I’d like to call “Sabb chalta hai” attitude which's now more of our key trait and becomes an integral part of our middle class backbone and huge young work force. I wonder are we really the descendents of the same folks who gave us Indus valley civilization? Is it our ”sabb chalta hai” attitude that's creating this havoc?

Undoubtedly each Indian knows what’s it all about and thinks he’s the ideal volunteer to work for it and at the same time thinks he’s not the one due to which this problem persists (same like how we define ‘Quality’ in system engineering). Also, at the same time we refuse to acknowledge that this is the prime reason for the apathy. We all know (at least I believe so) what are the ‘rights’ and ‘wrongs’ of a civilized society.

I see a compelling reason why a poor and illiterate (rather unaware) mass shows this attitude – he zeroes it as the easiest and most effective (also cost effective) option and finds its necessary of his survival at times (or at least gains a bit of edge over others). But what has happened to the backbone of this society – the highly education middle class and above all our dynamic and smart youth force is displaying this attitude in every walk of life. Where are we heading? Sometimes I wonder is this a country or just a market. Do we have any belongingness towards it or not? Where is India..?

Where’re my emotions for my mother India? I wonder if there’s any force that binds us as a nation (keep aside that handful of elites) except cricket or kargil. We’re caught in the culture of heroes and zeroes that Dr. Kalaam points out in his book ‘Wings of fire’. We have become so selfish and short-sighted that we won’t mind sucking blood of mother India in order to feed to our children. Where is India? My house and my beloved ones are what I care for.. I won’t like to even smile at others if it doesn’t benefit me in some way. Heights of cynicism.. Mother India is paying price for its size, both in area and numbers, and for diversity. We often say ‘unity in diversity’.. where’s unity (today only on Telangana issue, I came to know kosala, harit Pradesh, vidharva, poorvanchala, bundelkhand, gorkhaland, bodoland are next in the queue). Mother India is now more like a museum of world’s biggest democracy showcasing ‘unity in diversity’. I endlessly thank the impetus behind constitution that still keeps this country going.

Believe me if we don’t put a check on our this ‘chalta hai’ attitude then even a century is less to realise the dream that our visionaries have been showing us. We all love to listen to these heroes and applaud them a lot but soon we forget that the first step towards that dream starts with our single clean step. Nobody is gonna do that for us – we need to change the image and fate of our motherland and I’ve been stunned by the response I get when I act on this front. I see people cleaning their houses like sparkles this Diwali but what’s this? They’re dumping their shits in the gulleys.. Do their shining houses look good in totality? ‘Maine gulley ka thhekka liya hai? (Who cares about gulley?) they say. If we don’t bother about our own neighborhood then who’ll take care of the country? These politicians? Whom we curse round the clock and for making this country what’s it today?

Fellow Citizens and dear young friends, these are alarming signals and we need to work for a common cause. You must be aware that we’ve the biggest youth force in the world and we can turn the table in no time if understand our responsibility. And that’s pretty simple (as Kiran Bedi says) – just do your job honestly and have a sense of belongingness towards our motherland.

- Bete Noire

Let's burn Ravana this Dusherra

Back to Homepage

Indian-Festivities-Sep'09 pics

Happy Dusherra! Hope this festival kills all the evil spirits and brings even more peace, happiness and prosperity in our lives. But I increasing feel there’s a burning need to burn the Ravanas we have been nurturing inside and around us for quite some time now.. more than just a symbolic show off - in the form of burning effigies of evils every year. Let's have a commitment with ourselves this time round and shall work towards uprooting these devils in and around us which're depriving us from growing up as a human being, as a professional and as a nation. As an Indian (and as a good human being above all) I shall be working on my below-mentioned weaknesses with immediate effect which would take me and my country forward and reclaim its greatness rather than not just referring to it in the books of history.

1. Overcome our aggression and develop more patience. We’ll save our energies, that we waste by losing temper while dealing in public and on the roads, for constructive things. We can be polite yet assertive.

2. Fight corruption. This is the cancer of our society. It can be eradicated with collective efforts only and each of us need to take this responsibility, and need to be vocal when we come across any instances of corruption in our daily life.

3. Courteousness. Honking on the roads, using disgraceful language in our day-to-day endeavors are two grey areas that could be immediately whitewashed. Even a dog doesn’t bark without any reason.

4. Let’s cultivate more professionalism. Better professionals mean more productivity. Let’s be punctual and do out piece of job diligently. That’s it and our country progresses by leaps and bounds.

5. Let’s get rid of cynicism. 'Never say what country has given us rather say what I’ve done for the country' says a great nationalist. We should carry out our day-to-day endeavors by analyzing how it’d help our country to go forward. Let’s not exchange national interest for 'my pocket', 'my assets' and 'my folks'.

6. Honesty. Honesty is the best policy in all the endeavors that we undertake during the day. Practising honesty is a win-win situation for all us as individual and as a nation.

7. Cleanliness. We’ve to work very seriously on this and the steps to be taken are very simple – just think before throwing/spitting carelessly anywhere – and soon we’ll find that all the streets and public places are clean like sparkle.

8. Ownership. It’s my country – this sense of belongingness is lost somewhere and we need to rejuvenate it. India is a great nation and the biggest democracy with integrity in diversity, and we should be very proud of it.

-Bete Noire

Dilli 'Dilwalon' ki.. ya 'Paisewalon' ki?

Back to Homepage

New Delhi – national capital of our great country – which wouldn't like to be rated any lower than other good metro cities of India (or other good cities of third world countries for that matter), but the shortage of very basic necessities (electricity, water, sanitation, roads) and lack of basic hygiene makes it next to hell for a ‘common man’. Further, this term ‘common man’ also is a very vague term which needs a separate write-up altogether. If we as a government and civic authorities can’t provide these very basic necessities and fundamental hygiene to the natives in our numero-uno city (forget about other second-line cities or countryside) then we have no right to iterate that we’re soon going to join the group of elite nations. I understand that the city bears a tremendous load of massive in pour of new entrants and climate change wreaking havoc with each passing day but just by erecting huge concrete jungle and wider roads alone would not lead us to the path towards developed society.

‘Dilli hai dilwalon ki’ is the common saying in here which I’ve been listening for quite some time now. However, I’ve no more concurrence with this statement off late. Rather I’d say ‘Dill tow hai paisewalon ki’ (translation). If you’ve bucks in your pocket things go so very smoothly else one has to die every moment to live in here. The gap between richness and poverty is huge and overwhelming.

However, this statement would be difficult to make for public figure (or the well known faces who interact with the ground realities on day-to-day basis) but I being one of ‘common man’, with few extra bucks in my petty, have had liberty of living in these dual avatars – as a ‘common man’ and as a paisewala - on and off for last few years, and also don’t feel any pressure while expressing my opinion on the same.

In my ‘paisewala’ avatar, I’m an executive of a big corporate house. I lead an outstanding life while on business – stay, dine in five stars, commute in luxury cars, shop in biggest malls and meet best breeds of the town – and the city appears to be a heaven on earth as no weather atrocities haunt me, no waiting/queues, no corruption, no poverty, no littering, all green all clean (clean Delhi green Delhi utopia comes alive). But, the very moment I switch to my second avatar (like Snow-white turns to rags once the clock struck 12) as I can’t afford ‘paisewala’ avatar in my real life and live in a small house in a very congested locality where frequent power cuts, water shortage, blocked drainage system, dug-up roads, with all dust ‘n smoke and bumper-to-bumper traffic jam is a everyday story and woos no one if one raises concern (thanks to our ‘sabb chaltaa hai’ attitude). Long ‘n never ending queues at each public offices, with corrupt babus/policemen opening up there greedy mouths every now and then, suddenly makes the life worse than hell in the same city which looked perfect in the first avatar (Is it one’s miseries paying for other’s happiness). Someone said born poor is not your fault but dying poor is of course, but it’s excessively difficult for a poor to lead a dignified life in this society of ‘heroes and zeroes’ (as Dr Kalaam says) where it’s very difficult to appear at the surface as heroes in this population rich country and where rift between riches and rags is increasing with unprecedented pace. Everyone is not a maverick and I still see hundreds of them around me killing their lives and skill in extreme poverty.

Though I soon switch to my first avatar, mostly for a longer duration, but the agony of the horrendous experiences I go through while being in ‘dilwala’ (or common ‘dilliwalla’.. however recent talks say there’re only a handful who really are dilliwallas, most of ‘em outsiders with no real attachment to it) keeps haunting me all through my days spent in my second avatar. I can’t stop myself scanning the faces that I leave behind while travelling in my luxury limo or the staff that keeps my grin intact by giving his/her extra, at that horribly unaffordable cost. We Indians believe in short cuts not because we don’t believe in long cuts but just because of the experience that long cuts are the hopeless option and would even cost a lifetime to get something done passing through the proper channel (we’re in herds not in numbers wherever you approach in public.. In Mata’s jagraata yesterday night people were fighting while queuing up.. for what? For paying donation and getting name announced in loudspeaker!) Most of us believe that the same is easily achievable with far less efforts by being “practical and smart” (I spent two years to get my passport without being assisted by a commission agent).

Basic hygiene is generally deeply rooted into the respective cultures though bit challenged by poverty and incompetent civic authorities (I find my pockets full of my kid’s candy wrappers by the end of the day as I often don’t find any litter-boxes in public places. I was stunned to witness devotees littering used ‘prasadam’ plates next to goddess idols, yesterday during Mata’s Jagraata in my locality, without any guilt feeling.. disgusting!) Thanks to the geographical position of our country and the element s adding up to the fast disruption of the ecosystem of this city that further adds up to our woes. History says this city was built seventeen times but I feel this would be the last iteration as we’re not building (of course building the concrete jungle!) rather destroying it’s ecosystem. Still the remaining greenery belongs the older period and we can count the leftover trees on fingers that too planted by our forefather. Which direction we Delhiites going?

‘Kal ho jayega’ is the common answer if one asks for the deadlines – completely unprofessional attitude and comes with the requirement of ‘chai-paani’ which’s the pre-requisite for even having a glimpse at your case file.

Littering and honking is a very common habit we’ve developed over a period of time and often I’m a subject of humor when people around me find me shying away to do so. It doesn’t raise an eyebrow if you violate these rules of basic hygiene (rather they may raise when we do so!) that turning our beautiful city into a garbage dump and water bodies to smelly drains. I turn the pages of history that tells Indus valley civilization was among one of the oldest civilizations that makes us proud.

Thanks to the rapidly changing climate, energy shortage and eating habits that further adds up to the aggression, impatience, unproductiveness we show in our daily life which’s synonym to our behavioral attribute. More than ¾ of our city population faces the curse of electric power-cuts every summer which’s getting longer every year. As most of ‘em can’t afford inverters and hefty electricity bills like few ‘paisewallas’). That’s a different topic that sill lot of electricity is getting stolen (I came across an article recently which says our 7000KMs coastline can contribute to 25% of our energy needs through wind energy and another big lot through solar energy, and provide us immense employment option). Look at the traffic intersection and especially the two-wheelers on regular office routes. Honking is a fashion statement (or a disease?) and bikers preferring car horns. Home minister asks Delhiites to practise basic etiquettes and groom good behavioral attributes in wake of forthcoming commonwealth games. We natives of great Indian subcontinent need to be taught that we should learn basic behavioral manners and that too for hosting an international event is extremely shameful.

As a country eyeing a developed status by 2020, do we still need to emphasize that we need round the clock power, at least in our metro cities, to thrive for that essential growth and stature (or to be really called a metro). If this ‘common man’ is not sleeping whole night due to these power cuts how are we expecting him to be productive next day? Do we still have doubts that we need proper public sanitation system and responsible public administration before even called developing nation?

-Bete Noire

Celebration called life

Back to Homepage

I’m standing atop a double storey house in the middle of a very busy lower middle class colony amidst a very posh locality in the heart of New Delhi. Adventure with life's in full swing in here at every split second from first ray of light till midnight. Its second half of the day at the moment – post lunch session. Time of the day when only half of the population is actually at work (as half of us are sleepyhead after having out extra heavy lunch – Thaali) but still there’s no reduction in the rush in any sphere of life, whatsoever. I always wonder why our meals are so voluminous, extra oily and damn spicy whereas it should have more milder compared to others and more nutritious with lot of liquids in view of our geographical condition and considering how we generally behave on a typical day.

Life’s is dancing on the tip of a needle – there’s no scope for errors, one small mistake and it costs a life here. The other day we were talking about swine flu and it's impact in India. I laugh at the very idea of people putting a mask (as a fashion statement or what?) or rather flu bacteria would be confused whether to infect us or not. I used to hear the epidemics of cholera, small-pox, and malaria during the older days, and our elders have lost their beloved ones in quite a big numbers. I feel nothing much has changed since then in hygiene, except that we have vaccines ready for almost all those well known diseases, but health services are still pathetic and not accessible to the common mass.

I can see kids are playing in the middle of a very busy traffic which consists of all possible kind of vehicles. Dust is so thick and dense that I wonder how much percentage this dusty air is actually air (and how much finally oxygen?). I see people practicing zero tolerance everywhere, especially while driving - a biker's checking his front hood for dent, after hitting a cyclist head on, rather than checking for his well being after this big bang (anyways he has already cut his wrist badly). Everyone's honking every now and then, even if there’s no reason (I recall a roadside note some days back saying “honking is a disease” and I really feel that its a pandemic in India. Foreigners call us “noisy and smelly Indians” (this's atleast what I've been hear among the folks with whom I work). Yes, many of us are not very rich and can’t buy costly perfumes but we can atleast practise basic hygiene (‘Ittar’-traditional herbal scent still comes just for 10 bucks) and basic common sense (care for women and children?).

How cheap is human life and human emotions in here. I see two young guys fighting - tens of others joining in but what's this? Rather than put it off they are adding up to the fuel.. now I see a crowd of around hundred people having these two guys in the middle and both punching each other profusely and all watching with lot of fun. To my surprise no one is interested to put them to rest.. who cares? they’re getting a free show.. a free amusement fight club?

I’m stunned to see small kids crossing these roads (with no pedestrian care – what’s pedestrian care btw they’d ask me if I intervene). I’m stunned to find that they’re touching and eating so very dirty things that I wonder what would happen had we exposed the kids of developed nations to the similar circumstances. Body’s immune systems is beyond anyone’s understanding- if we care for it, it goes out of our control and when we surrender to it due to dire compulsions then nature takes care of it keeps itself intact even in most unhygienic situations (however it doesn’t give any excuse to the inefficient administration due to which these situations prevail here).

'Struggle for survival of the fittest' is the perfect statement for the chaos I see in front of me. I see a ‘sense of urgency’ on every face and feel that the ‘peace of mind’, ‘sense of satisfaction or gratification’ always missing from all these faces. Everybody is just rushing for somewhere or something.. there’s a tremendous rat race going on every minute but at the end of each such rat race starts yet another rat race and it keeps going on and on and on, taking each one of us to even more higher level of frustration, even more thirst and even more gloomy faces appear. Kids are growing faster, rather I’d say joining this struggle race bit earlier than we did. They’re talking all materialism earlier than ever before and adopting this artificial life as a fashion statement even before actually perceiving it, and loosing the charm of life sooner than later.

“Celebration called life” is ultimately getting lost in this survival struggle. We may feel that we’re getting benefited out of it but actually loosing on the social front massively. There’s no value for human life and emotions here.. Human life and emotions cost nothing here.. We’re just concentrating on accumulating wealth and that too in quickest possible time, and while doing so we’re missing the very essence of life – Celebrating the festivity called life.

-ANSI

I salute you Mehdi

Back to Homepage

I salute you Mehdi Hasan.. I've no words to describe you..

Souls like you gently appear in this world, shower these heavenly bits on us and disappear without making a fuss.. I don't have words how to thank you for the changes you bring in me and the emotions you create in heart.. you just hypnotize me you make me a good human being. should I call you a mere human or or a supernatural force that has the charisma to manipulate me the way you want.. I fail to understand how you characters emerge from the mud, acquire these great skillsets from nowhere and become the greatest epitomes. I hear that music is god.. music is heavenly.. music has no language... music is peace.. music is this and music is that.. When I listen to you or to my god Nusarat, I feel that I'm in a completely different world and you steer me the way you want.. I've no knowledge of music but the words coming out of your throat teach me everything all sorts of emotions start flowing inside me and you attain the position much much higher than god inside me.

I thank you from my eternal heart for all that you, and all the musicians of your stature, have done to the music.

-ANSI

Trip to England

Back to Homepage
England trip pics

There comes a wind of change and here we fly once again, but this time towards west - destination called England. Timing was just perfect as world-stage was all set for world T20 cricket tournament and above all it was summer time in europe. This breather came after an eventful couple of months in Delhi and thus we had a reason to take a long breath and smile. We took off from Delhi IGI airport on Thursday 04 June noon and destinatin port was London Heathrow airport which would take ten long hours onboard.

It was pretty pleasant weather when we arrived at London Heathrow Airport at eight O'clock local time and boarded national express coach for Cambridge. It was a three hours drive on pretty smooth highways and driver was quite friendly with good sense of humour. The fact that surprised us the most was the sunset timings which took place nearly at midnight when we reached Cambridge. Oshin was crying aloud due to cold when dropped us at Cambridge bus stop and while we were waiting for cab which took quite some time.

It took just couple of days to get accustomed to the local environment. Initially few days were pretty chilly and gradually it started getting hotter with each passing day (god know why that happened.. global warming?!). One interesting thing about England was it's weather which changes every minute. The first thing people talk about is weather "How about the weather today? Weather's awesome today! Weather doesn't look that bad today?" etc.

Cambridge is a small town with tens of colleges scattered all around. City is pretty green and infrastructure is pretty old but well maintained (with bit of littering by few ignorant young bloods). Busy streets with students of all possible nationalities.. relatively younger age group stylish mass seen mostly in pairs, liberally showcasing their intense love on the streets. This was the annual graduation time of the year and on top of it this year's 800th anniversary year of Cambridge university so town was overpacked and very little scope for shoestring travelling.

We visited London city couple of times which's couple hundred miles from Cambridge and takes an hour by train. London city is well connected by public transportation but seems bit costly. London city is beautiful and proves it's worth if you give it some time and closer look. Again the infrastructure is old but pretty well maintained. River Thames covers quite some aread of the city and it's worth going for this exciting river cruise. Trafalgar Square is the iconic London city center and one's London siteseeing is never complete without having a strawl around the fountain and having few snaps in front of gigantic lion statues.

A riverside strawl near London Bridge and Tower Bridge concludes our London trip (refer to photo above). Leaving Oshin in the bus while we came out to look for a misplaced jacket, thinking that Oshin's with my friend, is one memorable and horrendous incident that keeps giving us nightmare to all of us. On the early morning of very first day of August we bid farewell to the beautiful city of Cambridge and boarded our flight back home with mixed emotions.

with love,

Naveen

Adios Bangkok

Back to Homepage
Bangkok Pics

Dear Bangkok - Khob khun khrab, swasdee khrab (thank you so very much)... adios friends (good bye friends)... we'll direly miss you all through our lifetime.. you gave us a reason to enjoy each moment spent in this beautiful land of smiles. We can happily spend yet another life cherishing memories of this pleasant dream.. May god bless you all with lots and lots of more happiness in time to come and accept our hearty thanks for all the love and affection you showered on us all these days.

Our stay at Bangkok has been nothing less than an ideal dream.. a lifetime full of smiles.. a smooth highway journey (that too on thai highways or a thai massage!). We made more friends in these three years than we made in our lifetime so far. We're highly impressed with the thai people, their culture and their zeal to keep it intact. We salute this country and its people. What's more interesting to see is that not only the localites but even the foreigners get drenched with their loving attribute.. as it's rightly said - smile is infectious. We met people of tens of nationalities there and even they also showcased their behavioural atrributes at par with thais.

Generally there's not much difference the way Indians and Thais lead their lives on day-to-day basis but it's worth listing down few points that clearly gives this beautiful country an edge over others. It amazing to see the folks smiling all day long, tidy streets with almost no littering, folks strictly punctual and truly professionals, country-first attitude, honesty a religion, respect for foreigners, respect for woman, caring for human emotions and their belief in celebrating life are few attributes that makes every expatriate speechless in this divine country.

We love our country and we're proud Indians. Undoubtedly, nobody can matchup with our stamina for survival struggle, our analytical capabilities, our adaptability and there're many areas where we're far ahead than any other. We've one of the biggest youth workforce and we're one of the biggest markets in the world. We're capable taking the centerstage and changing the world economy at our will. Having said that we still feel we've a lot to llearn from thais, especially from cultural, behavioural and integrity perspective. As a country we may want to set a goal to matchup Thais in next five years.

Love,

Hema-Oshin-Naveen

Oshin's 6th Spring

Back to Homepage
Oshin's 6th Birthday pics

Happy birthday Oshin! We wish you with loads of blessings on your sixth birthday.. May god bless you with endless smiles all through your life darling!

Being our lone child, Oshin's birthday holds a special meaning for us as parents and always brings a xing in our life.. along

comes the reason for lot of fun and frolic.. and comes the time of real celebrations. This year Oshin witnesses her sixth spring of her life and third in the land of smiles. May god bless her with thousands of smiles.

We arranged a small birthday party at McDonalds at Chong Nonsi, Bangkok with all our closed friends at Oakwood on the eve of her birthday, Saturday 23 January. It was an outstanding get-together for the kids and their parents and we had some real fun out there. Some interesting games session for kids and chit-chat among the parents was followed by a quick snacks party. Cake cutting ceremony was the next which has became memorable with that interesting push and pull among the kids, to grab the best part of that delicious tesse bear topping on the top of that magnificent yellow cake in '6' shape. Special birthday candle from Sukhy are among other highlights that marked the evening which glows up with an interesting hustle-bustle surprised the guests. Food was good and so was the cake after that as dessert which all of us enjoyed a lot. Kids were happy winning prizes and receiving those nice goody bags at the end.

Oshin and both of us missed our friends Kesavan and Sireesh who were planning to surprise Oshin with their presence on this occasion which couldn't happend due to some unavoidable reasons. Sireesh compensated for his absence in the form of yet another belated birthday party and a precious gift. Hema and me compensated for Kesavan's absence in the form of long telecon sessions with him and a gift of Nintendo DS which once Kesavan planned for her. Oshin got quite a sizeable and costly gifts this time round and she hardly sees anything left out in her wishlist. All close friends of ours started planning the gifts for this birthday well in advance to ensure unique and

meaningful gifts.

We wish Oshin all the very best on this auspicious and important day. A loving, caring, obedient, diligent, intelligent and beautiful kid like Oshins deserves all these blessings, especially from her lucky parents. Hema and me are proud to be her parents.

Hema-Naveen

Keshav's Tulip Festival experience

Back to Homepage
Trip to Australia picture gallery

Today's beatiful morning of September the 13th - officially start of spring and a wonderful day out here in Melbourne. Took a day out for a trip to Tesselaar Tulip Festival, to see baronial flowers "Variety the Spice of life" nice caption. Life's better when you get out and do something different to enjoy its variety-broaden your horizons,embrace life in all its infinite diversity . Enjoyed looking at huge array of Spring flowers in all colours and shapes. i can say this flowers are wonders of spring and its breath taking experience which made my day looking at the flowers when breeze touches them i feel they say hi and hello to me . Infact i took the pictures with great passion , when i ask them to say cheese they smiled with the help of gentle breeze. Nice opportunity to be with small little flowers which made my day . My quest in search in meaning of this flowers started now and here we go the first one i found in proflowers.com . Quiet interesting and good . Meanings of Tulips : The is one of the world's most easily recognized and loved flowers. The meanings of tulips coupled with the immediately identifiable shape of their colorful blooms make them a comfortable flower choice. They are not too elegant, too romantic, too big, too small, or too bright; the tulip is always just right. They are like a favorite pair of jeans or your mom's fresh-baked cookies in that the meanings of tulips express genuine coziness and comfort in all of the right ways.

The tulip originated over ten decades ago in Persia and Turkey, where it played a significant role in the art and culture of the time. Most likely commenting on the Turkish tradition of wearing tulips in one's turban, Europeans mistakenly gave tulips their name, which comes from the Persian word meaning turban. As Europeans began admiring tulips, the flower's popularity spread quickly, particularly in the Netherlands where a phenomenon dubbed tulip mania set in at one point during the 17th century. Tulips became so highly-prized that prices were sent soaring and markets crashing. Tulips are now grown throughout the world, but people still identify cultivated varieties as "Dutch tulips." The meaning of tulips is generally perfect love. Like many flowers, different colors of tulips also often carry their own significance. Red tulips are most strongly associated with true love, while purple symbolizes royalty. The meaning of yellow tulips has evolved somewhat, from once representing hopeless love to now being a common expression for cheerful thoughts and sunshine. White tulips are used to claim worthiness or to send a message of forgiveness. Variegated tulips, once among the most popular varieties due to their striking color patterns, represent beautiful eyes. With all of the sentiments and meanings of tulips, it's not surprising that their popularity continues to endure. The wide range of colors and varieties available allows them to be used for many occasions. In addition to being a favorite for cut flower arrangements, tulips can also be given as a potted plant. The growing and caring for of tulip bulb gardens and plants is a rewarding pastime for many flower lovers. As one of the world's most beloved flowers, a gift of tulips is a sure delight, enchanting in its beauty and simplicity.So see you all Tulips next year at Keuenhoff Tulip festival one of my favourite destination of the world. http://www.keukenhof.nl/nm/english.html.

May this spring and tulips bring in the finest moments out of our life this year . Thanks to many who made this happen . Good luck Tulips! "I wandered lonely as a cloud.. that floats on high o'er vales and hills, when all at once I saw a crowd, a host, of golden daffodils" - William Wordsworth. I might be the happiest person if Wordsworth mentioned tulips instead of daffodils.. Infact all the flowers are soothing but I prefer nice little tulips cuz its just right and perfect...

cheers!
Keshav

Trip to Australia

Back to Homepage
Trip to Australia

Coooool... it was really cool both ways! Trip was real cool and so was the temperature. This is hard core winter season in Australia and we were able to grab those cool moments which are only possible during these winters speicially skiing in snow-cladded mountains while snowing is on, watching penguines returning from the freezing sea on their way back to their sand-dune burrows at dusk, enjoying the sea cruise in nearly freezing wheather.
Melbourne city in southern state of Victoria was the destination when we boarded Thai airways flight TG981. Suddenly mercury drops to single digit when to got out of the Tullamarine airport. I could smell the same fresh air that I used to get in Washington state of US - Victoria can also be regarded as evergreen state just like Washington. City was not really full of sky-skippers just like any third city but many things were there couldn't be found everywhere. Legacy tram system for an example, lush greenary almost everywhere and highways smooth like butter. Australia is called the land of immigrants - Indians, chinese and thai folks can be seen anywhere and everywhere. Main city is not very big but is colorful and vibrant. Public transportation a plus here - main city is conveniently approachable from all the adjoining suburbs. Vast lush green pastures with cattle grassing lesuirely on both side of the highway is a common scene as soon as you come out few miles out of the city. Snow mountains are very approachable and can be visited in a single day trip - Mount Buller was the one which we visited and it was a memorable trip. A cruise trip to Sorrento followed by a long drive along the great ocean road is something incredible - Twelve Apostles was the destination for us on this long drive. Watching penguins coming out of sea after day long fishing is one more attraction during this time of the year and Philip Island is the place. Quite a few zoo, parks, aquariums and museums are there in the city and tourist transportation at the city centre is absolutely free with tourist information centre pretty much accessible.

In a nutshell this was a worthwhile vacation closer to nature. It was a healty treat for our lungs and a good exposure to australian lifestle. We should say this trip was gifted as we never planned for it. There's a good saying that few things should be treasured quitely in our hearts and never thank those people and circumstances who realize those moments as it reduces their importance. This trip was just the right example of how volatile people and circumstances are and leaves behind few sweet and unforgettable memories for long long time to come.


I'll come back with yet another episode of my travel diary soon.
Keep smiling!

Naveen