*facepalm moment

There isnt anybody who doesnt know her: the iconic Nicole Kidman ! And this incidently is one of her most iconic looks on the red carpet. Now anybody who doesnt ogle at this picture of hers...i believe has no hair-issues.

Now to remind those of you who havent already heard of my plight of being thrown onto a different planet,i have managed to land myself on this pecularly bent over continent called Australia,where much to my horror,every single girl looks likes this(or almost). Case rested.

Now to enumerate the situation: i look something like this- (hair-wise)

My hair would simply refuse to accept order of any kind and would remain disarrayed and engage in very frequent riots among themselves.

Also i do not belong to the club of the ones "favoured by god's themselves" like our very own Soha ali khan who can manage to sail away any crappy day on the sole plank of her very gifted hair.

Being a punjabi,i have long hair and not being able to cut/trim them i am required to wear them straight. I dont deny that chic-straight hair are the all-time classy look of the lot. But to be able to achieve it and furthermore to maintain it,is a herculean task my folks. So thus i embark upon a journey where i gear myself up with the armamentarium in my quest to achieve sheer-straight-blondie look. 

I use various methods from iron-pressing my hair while keeping them under folds of newspaper to applying hair gels to very modern means of variety of hair straighteners to the recent rebonding. I also explicitly remember this one time when i tried using aloe-vera gel on my hair and drying it to achieve the kidman-look aforementioned. Many a times i would wash my hair and wont lie or sit with my hair against any surface to achieve the desired result. My hair would be the Untouchables,up until the very moment when the curtains dropped following an applause..not a second before that !

But whatever i do,i never managed to achieve the quality and style of our very own 'chinkis' here. I would like to mention that our chinese (or mongolian origin) friends here are the pioneers in hair caring and styling in this part of the world,where even their kids look like they have spent half of their day in hair saloon. So thats where i started concentrating my energies on,to find a suitable candidate of mongolian origin with hair as pristine as the Goddess Venus herself. There,on her doorstep would i find the fix to my maladies. And the Goddess Venus,i did find.

She chose to materialize in a departmental store. Dressed in the loveliest shade of ivory,with long burgundy tresses falling over her shoulders i could see her gliding towards me. I had a million questions to ask her,a million answers that i seek. No sooner i had begin explaining my plight,much like a long lost traveller asking for directions,that i realized she couldnt understand anything that i was saying. Damn you language barrier. After an year or so it seemed when i finally managed to explain to her, half in actions and half in single words spoken aloud,she smiled and said: 'ohh,u neeed sit'rate air..no probl'en use son'seelk'. She might have been speaking alien-language for all i cared but seeing my lost gaze still fixed upon her,she made me follow her to the counter and to my wonderment showed me : 

our very own sunsilk ! Aaargh was it that easy !

*post written as entry to Sunsilk contest for Indiblogger.

Merry in Melbourne

A new blog post after a long sabbatical.

Inspite of my promises and vows to self of always always being able to find time for blogging no matter what, hustle of a new city did squeeze out time,energy and effort to turn to my dear digital dairy.
Confessions made. Remedy starts.

And just when i was in dire need of something to motivate me to write,i catch up this Indivine contest. Shifting base to a new country is a bit of a culture shock,and i found all my expensive indian wardrobe to be utterly useless here. So when i was frantically hoping to find something nice and light i tumble on to ShoppersStop (http://www.shoppersstop.com).

I was besides myself in delight to find a wide range of festive wear ! Not just ethnic but also a collection of dresses,just as easily for me to grab ! Keeping in mind the new country and life here i go for this elegant piece of single dress by Lifestyle in blue.

Dress from Lifestyle

What attracts me is not just the exquisite cowl neck-line but also the tie-belt that accentuates the waist and furthermore i instantly fell in love with the pockets that dab just a pinch of 'casual' to a rather suave ensemble.

earrings by 'Infinity'

Cherry on the cake was a set of divine ear-rings by Infinity in sapphire blue. My dream comes true !

Furthermore to splurge on christmas i go on and buy a matching pair of 'infinity-bracelet' that were (hold-your-breath) 20% off ! My christmas came on early Santa ! hallelujiaah !!!

Peep toes from Haute curry

To complete the look i teem it up with Haute curry Peep toe in chic brown and a bejewelled Elliza Donatein clutch and voila i am all set for sunny christmas in Australia. And i didnt lose the jingle in my pocket too :)

Elliza Donatein Clutch

ShoppersStop.com - Wills Lifestyle Womens Cowl Neck Dress: Wills Lifestyle Womens Cowl Neck Dress
ShoppersStop.com - Infinity Earring - 92423RM: Infinity Earring - 92423RM
ShoppersStop.com - Infinity Bangle -044547RM: Infinity Bangle -044547RM
ShoppersStop.com - HAUTE CURRY - Womens Evening Peep Toe:HAUTE CURRY - Womens Evening Peep Toe
ShoppersStop.com - Elliza Donatein Clutch - IREXCL: Elliza Donatein Clutch - IREXCL

This post is written as an entry to 'Shoppers stop perfect look contest' by Indiblogger (http://www.indiblogger.in)

Those who respect the Lord,will live

and be satisfied,not bothered by the troubles.

 Proverbs 19:23

I might be a little too late in reading 'A Thousand splendid suns' but thank God i am never too late. What a wonderment,this book is ! I did like Khaled Hosseini's previous one,the Kite Runner and did see the glimpses of it in this novel too(like background of afghan war,orphanage,the illegitimate child and the returning of people that had escaped their war-stricken land) but i must say that all of it has been surpassed in this one.

I was moved to the bones. One reason might be because it's a tale of two women,and i could connect well with it(as many of the lot would be able to) and left me amazed at the thought that somewhere around the globe,on this very earth,women my age or even younger are made to endure all this. All through the book i had this uneasy feeling,queasy sensation smeared with guilt that i am doing nothing for them except the single act of reading about them and sympathising with them. Felt cowardly and non-deserving. 

Every now and then i had to close the book and keep it aside,catch some air,ponder over what i had read,and start again. Reading made me feel as im prying on the lives of mariam and laila,the two protagonists of the story. But i am grateful to the author for having interlacing the two tales so intricately and marvelously. Wish to read many more like these..

I too have a story to tell

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 32; the thirty-second edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton. The theme for the month is 'An Untold Story'

When i travel i fall back into this abyss that takes me to this weird place between dream and reality,a place i find myself dangling in, endlessly. Wondering what would be a greater relief,to hold onto or to give up. But then i write. Whether i write to fill up my heart and the vacuum within or whether i write to empty my heart of the clutter inside,that i know not of. I know that I just write.

I write what i see. And many times of what we never see. I write of tales never been heard that i see all around me,and no sir i do not see the faces then. I see 'An Untold Story'.

Masterpieces. They had all always been tragic. Much like Othello,Macbeth,Wuthering Heights or our very own Devdas. Such a tale was written on one nondescript face. Dressed in the fadest colour of blue,sitting by the train tracks. Eyes very much innocent. Skin very much pale. Frown very much justified. Condition very much pregnant.

She had her untold story written all over her face. Probably married when she was too young to think of herself. Probably to a man who at that very moment is drunk and in one of the numerous gutters of the city. Probably too tired to even pacify the child who is hungry,crying and tugging at her pallu. Probably feeling guilty of bringing an another one into this world.

Can i even imagine what her untold story is ! I dare not. Neither i dare to touch numerous ones that has died down without even their voices been heard. The pathos,the dilemma,the guilt is as virgin and untouched as her story. I find myself reading every single line in her deep frowns. Listening intently to every word in her drops of sweat. And then she stands up,and something scares me. That look on her face,it was resolute. But for the first time in my life i couldnt make out whether it was desperation or whether it was courage. One emerging from other,i guess.

She walks towards the rail-tracks. I panic. I could hear the train sounding its whistle,and it was growing louder each second. She takes hold of her child's hand and he allows himself to be dragged..crying and hungry. Meanwhile i was suffering from an attack of paralysis on my car seat as i saw her walking towards the tracks,refusing to even think of what was going in her mind. Every single molecule of my body was shouting "No,dont do it" except for my tongue that had tied itself into a gordian's knot.

Second crawled by painstakingly and i had seen the women walking away form me...towards her end...for ages. Or so it seemed. My hands tightened their grip on the steering wheel and my knuckles paled like raw peaches. Everything in me prepared me for the scene that i was about to register and i braced myself for the mutilation being inflicted on my coward soul. I held my breath when she took her first step on the train-track. My eyes widened,and my throat parched and stuck to my innards for additional support. One step followed another and then one little bit more,and before i knew she had crossed the tracks. I could see her receding figure through the gaps in the coaches of the train passing. Shaken for a moment and beyond,i saw she was going, leaving behind not just a thundering train but an equally strong train of thoughts in my mind.

A second later the railway crossing bridge opens and i drove past with an untold story in me.

photo courtesy  Google

The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective posts can be checked here. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton. Introduced By: BLOGGER NAME, Participation Count: XX

Dr Mandeep Khanuja - I too have a story to tell

We grow with time,our opinions diverge,split and go haywire. Our perspective change widely,as if some kind  of blinders are suddenly removed from our eyes. And hence occasionally we start paying attention to some issues that we might have so easily missed before. Finding myself getting bored at midnight yesterday i started to see 'A Beautiful Mind' again. When i saw it before i always saw the wonderful portrayal of Dr John Nash by Russell Crowe. This time i was hit big time in the stomach by the semantics of husband-wife relationship. I accept i wouldnt have noticed every single thing so finely,if i hadnt been married myself. But now that i have,i am glad i did.

The point in the story where 'Alicia' just rescues her baby boy from getting killed,owing to her husbands schizophrenia attacks but still does not desert him,and infact gives her husband one more chance,when he pleads so was the highlight of the movie for me personally. To give without receiving anything in return and moreover to grant when you know no returns would be even possible is a tremendous task. It did teach me a lot. And contrary to my habit i will keep this one movie with me always,and i do plan to revisit it if and when i find myself in a pickle :)

What makes a person so irresistible to you that you would be drawn to him/her constantly. Like a distant chime of a bell-tower you know you need to go there. You need to drink from that pool ! You need to wash yourselves of all the mindless useless things you had been doing for a couple of days/weeks/any period of time ! Call it love ! n'aaah that's too strong a word. Or too light,may be...who knows ! We dont love a person,we love certain traits. I say traits because they might or might not be qualities,per se. I happen to love integrity. Integrity. Sounds a very heavy-duty stuff. Right ? I didnt know or understand the real meaning of the word up until a few days back,let alone have known that i could love someone for that. Nothing draws me more to a man than his integrity. There it is. Having said it,i also admit that i havent met many men of integrity. Till late i used to believe that it was honesty. I guess it isnt. Integrity is honesty combined with the virtue of being whole,undivided,pure. It isnt easy to be around such people. And so i guess there arent many such people left around. As parents,teachers,siblings and peers we society have always strived to crush it like a dangerous monster.One to be feared,not nurtured.We have done a pretty darn good job at strangulating them,suffocating them and finally eliminating them.

Pity. Have you ever felt it? That cripple on the railway platform that hasent washed himself in ages. That lady dressed in tatters with a cachexic child sellling (or trying to sell) something that nobody virtually needs. That boy cleaning the floor of the railway coach with a piece of cloth that doubles as his shirt. Do you feel pity for them? I dont. And i feel anger for anyone who looks at them with this sight that smears pity on their faces. Why? Why and how dare we feel pity for an another human being !! Give what you have. But not because you feel pity for them,but because act of giving itself is a great pleasure. Give not for them,but for your own sake. 

No idea why i had to write all this up. I dont even care if anyone finds time to read it,understands it or even tries to understand it. Just like the act of giving,i had to write this not for anyone,but for me.

Passion. Meaning. Belonging. Pain...a gut wrenching one !...a pain borne out of love.

Ever experienced any of it ? It takes lots of misery to be able to understand these words. To grasp their knowledge,in individuality as well as in entirety. A love so strong and deep that not only it pulls you to it,but also it repels everything and everone away from it.

Passion,that makes you want to cut out your innards if that's what it would take to satisfy it. I am surprised if anyone feels that way sometimes. And i wonder how do they live with themselves if they dont !

To live with the world: easy. Hard task master is the one who knows to live with himself.

Nice,right !

I loved the way it is so easily contemplated ! Not that i havent read something like this before,but its just that the way it ends... is so amusing ! All our life depends on our 'perception' !

Why do we think that our problems,our situations will not change for good? How can our problems be permanent when even our life isn't ! It matters a lot where do we seek solace when our minds are troubled. I dont find it any wise to depend on people,sooner or later everyone gets busy with their lives and the feeling of being left behind is certainly not elating. Developing a hobby that can take our minds off the situation is best. I tried painting,i cant paint anymore now. But that's ok,it helped me while it lasted. Reading is less of a hobby but is rather like a necessity with me,and i fully intend to keep it that way.

The people we relate to,talk to,play an equally important role. Since i have found myself around people who have a positive and lively approach towards life (eg my hubby) it has also had some calming effect on me. This hen does not gets it feathers ruffled for anything in haste now :)

Life's to be savoured,not devoured. Rushing into things is one matter,but resolutely performing things is totally another game. I am changing myself from former to latter. On the reading front i am reading a rather boring and 'badly constructed' Robert Cook,but once i start off with a thriller,there's no stopping me. I have to know the end.. absolutely....yeah that's right ! uff i despise the day i started it. Waiting to switch onto some inspirational read !

I hope we all could see and realize with what a pleasure had our lives started and it is upon us to keep that pleasure alive. To feel the spark in every moment is our obligation.
Peace and joy for everyone around. Good night.

I have so much to say and so little to write ! Its baffling :)

Normally one good/bad/sad/unexpected/miraculous thing would happen to me and i would jump on to my blog at the first opportunity and rest my feelings here. But offlate i had been to so many places have such vivid experiences that it sort of has created a traffic-jam of thought train inside my mind.

But so ardent is my will to pen down atleast something today that i had switched off the Harry potter and the Deathly Hallows PartI at HBO which FYI had never ever happened and is unlikely to happen anytime soon. I love JKR. Period. I dont care if people call her a children's writer or whatever. I just love her,lovvvvve her and lovveeeeee her. :) I guess the child in me would never stop loving her ! Read Blogadda's premium bloggers today and i am getting utterly and progressively disappointed with Blogadda. One of the premium bloggers (wont name her here plz) was all gaga about Preeti Shenoy !!! What a let-down. I barely managed to scrap through a single book of hers and vowed never to read another. But as i mentioned previously in my blog here i find the cattle-breed of authors today very ordinary and un-inspiring.

Well everybody has a right to express their opinions and i respect it, but commenting like a pro on the subject that one knows nothing of,is not very attractive to me. Anyways i think i am very biased with 'Book-blogs'. I love the good ones and get extremely angry (with red ears) at the miserable ones. My favourite blogs are the ones that had probably never been listed or been premium blogs at blogadda. My blog-mother is a married malayali woman staying in London. She probably doesnt know it but i read her blogs for some inspiration now and then. I dont comment much or distribute free ka gyaan at her blog-post out of sheer respect. Sounds weird,but i know she as such has a difficult life and i dont want to complicate things for her. Nevertheless i always stay at a distance,read her,say some silent prayer once in a while and hope that she finds happiness soon.

Yup the most difficult thing in life is to be a spectacle and to stand in front and be judged by people. By some sheer tryst with luck or rather by some fierce miracle :) my life has taken a U-turn. I have never been this happier and relaxed. I am traveling,eating, reading,thinking happy thoughts and thanking God for never once diminishing the ray of hope in my heart. Not even for a second i had let myself believe that things would not change for me. Hope in our heart is a very powerful weapon. Like a magnet it attracts and bring to us all things good and kind.

I am reading at break neck speed hahaaa At present i am reading three books concurrently. Some long back started Nora Roberts, a gripping Ken Follet and a more sombre Fountainhead ! That is one very important reason why i dont write book reviews ! Because at any single time i am residing in the world of so may books,its hard for me to sit and dwell and write about a single one :)

And then again my train journey this time was marvellous. Along with the lovely weather,the mountains rushing by and the ever- lukewarm "hot" tea of pantry of Indian Railways i had company of a music band ! On their way from Amritsar to Mumbai was Money-music group to perform in India's Got Talent and man did they have talent !!! Not only did i thank my stars for not cancelling my reservations for that day and felt lucky but their singing did bring a few tears to me. :)

And yeah the ever sucky power cuts in rajasthan had just killed off my mood to write and its me saying ciao and be happy....read happy :)

Did a strange thing today..while walking from room to kitchen,passing through lobby i stopped to see me in the mirror..ok i looked fine in this pink salwar-kameez(nomatter what anyone says how i look) and along with a pink bindi(i actually looked pretty#selfindulgentme) so i ended up giving me a dazzzling smile. Much like they show in that 'Amway advertisement'.

Its nothing new,but it felt so good believe me that i was surprised that why hadnt i done that before. Not that i was particularly happy or anything,on the contrary i was a little perplexed. Not even downright gloomy,but just not glad. But when we keep the one person who we are supposed to keep happy (ourselves) the results are startling !

Suddenly what someone/anyone thinks of you doesnt matter anymore. Whether you are alone or have a partner to share your life doesnt matter anymore. More often than not when i had found myself left alone and desolate i had imagined myself doing so many things that i had always wanted to do. Il share it here today..i always wish to resume back my Kathak classes; the other thing that i am dying to do is to lay my hands on a violin. Always imagined...always dreamt of doing that ! Once in a while when i hear Daisy in December my madness gets a dose of renewal :D

So just one me and so many things that i wish to do ! But i would. One of these days il do all that...and read and jog the streets and take random snaps and do all of that. One of these days...very soon.

Your heart is where your treasure is

Dressed in beautiful red attire of a bride,hands of henna adorned with traditional bangles,looking as demure as the rain poring in from the sky, she stared into nothingness.

Married for but just 40 days now, she waited for her husband to call her. She hadnt seen him in a month and today he had failed to call for some reason that she didnt know of. Cry..that she cudnt do, so that was what the skies were doing for her. 'Keep heart..he would call for sure' was all she kept on telling herself but the truth being that she hadnt longed for anything much more than that in all her life. 

She would work all day. The music of her anklets resounding in the home,where she was left behind. Left behind to think..left behind to wait. Often her kohl lined eyes would see beyond the walls of this house to the place where 'he' was. 'He' who had married her and vowed to be with her for the rest of their life,but cudnt be found anywhere now. 

With eyes as red as the crimson on her forehead today she prayed for her wait to come to an end. Sleep when came,came with the dreams of a beautiful exotic place. Tall skyscrapers that make people gape at them with wonder . Seas so vast and exquisite that people would be mystified by their beauty. Lovely streets lined with cafes that make mornings fresh with scent of coffee heavy in the air. She would take a deep breath to take in the aroma of the city,she would drink in the beauty of this city with her eyes.

But most of all this would be a city where she would be happiest in the world. The city where 'he' is. For the heart is where your treasure is. And just when she was turning around to gaze into the most beautiful pair of eyes that she had ever seen...she heard someone shouting in distance..."Wake up sister..its your time to visit Melbourne NOW" 

And before she knew, off she was on the plane to be with the love of her life. To the most exotic city of Melbourne. The city which she would adore for all the years to come..

www.visitmelbourne.com/in  This post is written as an official entry to Indivine Blogger Contest titled under "Its your time to visit Melbourne now"

There i find my own-self

hidden in dilapidated dark

so retreated from world around

at the exact moment when i am dreaming but am also awake

Beautifully red,prettily pink

coloured bangles and painted nails

but then why the spirit shattered within ?

Curled and groaning with painful loneliness

no not a shelter,it needs freedom

no not a status,it needs love

With a boltning smile of painted lips

dressed in shattered dreams

with hope behind a veil of tears

every heart beats and bleeds for warmth

And you wait, keep waiting for that one thing
which would infinitely enrich your life:
the powerful, uniquely uncommon,
the awakening of dormant stones,
depths that would reveal you to yourself.

Many many many hours of my day i spend looking for something that inspires me. Something that stirs my soul,something that ignites it,flames it up. And then once in a while when i read something like Rilke i find myself in that little happy place in my heart,curled up into a ball and swaying and swinging happily into oblivion. For the past hour after my morning walk,i had read 'Letters to a Young Poet' and am filled with immense praise for this german poet ! Will read whatever i can find of him.

It is such a rarity to find something precious to read,something that i would lock up in the little treasure-box of my heart and cherish for years to come ! Most of the times,even while working in the kitchen or driving, my thoughts would wander to places and desperately search for something that quenches my soul. And when such happens, more often than not il turn to poets like Rumi,Mary lou or Saahir ludhianvi and take a big refreshing swig for my parched up self from their immensely beautiful writings.

Rilke made my day and am off to start this morning with a tiny bit of sunshine that lights me up from the inside and keeps me glowing for many many more moments to come.

Just when we think that life has become an ass cracking rigmarole and threads of deceit and treachery wind too tight for us to untangle life/God/fate call what u may,gives us a chance to set it straight and fair. I lost my handbag at delhi station while coming home this time. I lost just the appropriate amount of valuables to make me sit and think what made that happen. I have been travelling alone since 11 years and had never made a single mistake but why then this time. Had something crept up into me that made me do wrong and hence in this way life had wiped off my slate clean and gave me an opportunity to start afresh and untainted !

By no means i am justifying the actions of one who had done this. "Stealing" is the only kind of sin,this i read somewhere. So did i too steal from someone ! This i wondered. Anything taken that doesnt belong to us is stealing. Also denying someone of their justful right is stealing. Lying to someone is stealth. Because in that way we are stealing away the other person's right to know the truth. Treating people rudely is a kind of stealth,we then steal their right to be treated with respect.

All the journey from delhi to my home i had plenty of time to think about whether i too had stolen from someone and made someone feel like i felt then,cheated and violated ! I had a few important things in the bag but that somehow that didnt bother me much. I have forgotten those 'important' things now. All my phones,my purse with the hand written note "Lord is my shepherd...i shall never be in need"....all that seems to be a thing of the past now. I wish something good comes out from it for someone somewhere in need.

Marriage has made me more grounded. I am taking in the few very rare qualities of my MIL. One month with her has made me quiet,sober,very patient and much stronger in life sustaining faith. I am happy and very lucky to have someone like her in my life,its just the way she goes on about her day that makes me imbibe the goodness ever present around us. To never get upset with people and to be ever kind and pleasant is a great challenge in today's fast and furious life. But there couldnt be a greater accomplishment than that too i am sure. Staying with her also did give me a lot of insight into why's and how's of my hubby's nature :) a healthy perk i must say ! So if you really wanna get to know your hubby better, look closely into your mum-in-laws: my piece of advice :)

Life's treating me good, for the most part of it. No complaints no regrets now. That taught me, just because i started my race late doesnt mean i cant run it and finish it well. Happy and contended to be wherever i am today and thats a big treat for my little heart.