tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9642246102980294682024-03-13T11:02:59.837-04:00Random MusingsAn attempt to explore my own mind and formulate my thoughts into decipherable, intelligible strings of wordsBhavyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14145527115052637202noreply@blogger.comBlogger512125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-964224610298029468.post-38049374014270309352016-09-18T21:56:00.002-04:002016-09-21T12:28:58.605-04:00This kid inspires<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span data-offset-key="au1cg-0-0">When faced with year-long restrictions - no school, no indoor public spaces, no visitors in our house and no visits to friends' houses - just to name a few, a parent like myself will tend to be angry and frustrated with the hand that we have been dealt. But our three year old has gradually learnt to deal with it all in a very positive way. She used to love going to the library and now she has a corner in the living room where we have two shelves of her books. She calls that corner the library and pretends she's borrowing books from there.</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="4nogl-0-0">She can't go to the grocery store, so she puts one of her dolls in her toy shopping cart and pretends she's at the grocery store. She's learnt that if she wants something, say a baked good, we can't just get up and go to the store and get it. So she asks if we can make it ourselves. Sometimes we can and we do. Bonus: we can control the quantity and quality of ingredients.</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="1q0o5-0-0">She can't go to grocery stores, so we've been taking her to farmers' markets and pick-your-own farms. Can't go to restaurants, so more cooking at home. We're eating fresher and she's learning about where food comes from. We had a great visit to the farmers' market the other day which ended with a snack of green beans for her and raspberries for me - both fresh picked and grown less than 5 miles from our house. </span>I made my first soup this week which was all local ingredients, and a salsa that was mostly local ingredients. Great soup and best salsa I've ever seen/had.</div>
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Bhavyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14145527115052637202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-964224610298029468.post-65508315639471554012016-08-05T19:50:00.003-04:002016-08-05T19:51:10.690-04:00Being a cancer mom<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Those who know me in real life or from Facebook know that my three year old daughter is fighting leukemia and recently had a stem cell transplant. I do not plan to document the full story on my blog but I want to occasionally write about my feelings here. Writing about feelings can be therapeutic for me sometimes.<br />
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A few months ago, my way of recharging my batteries would be either reading a book quietly or baking. Now, with all the restrictions that come with a stem cell transplant, quiet time is scarce. My toddler cannot go to any indoor public place - school, grocery stores, malls are all off limits. So she is home just about all the time. I do still bake, but now it includes her. She stirs the batter while I watch to make sure she doesn't lick any part of the raw batter.<br />
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Some days, it seems like I have lost the ability to feel anything - sympathy, empathy or joy for another person or another situation that does not involve pediatric cancer. Not to say that pediatric cancer is the absolute worst thing that can affect a person or family, though it is probably high up on the list of such terrible things. This is just how I deal with the situation and attempt to keep my sanity.<br />
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A lot of funding and research goes into finding cures for adult cancers, but only about 4% of the funds are allocated for pediatric cancer research in the States. Yes, pediatric cancer is a lot less common than adult cancer. But the way it affects families, both immediate and extended, is way more intense. A parent who has been through this ordeal is never the same person again. The same is also true for grandparents and other family members. A patient who goes through cancer treatment misses out on some very important segments of their formative years. They spend hours and days in hospitals and clinics instead of learning at school or playing outside. Their life span is shortened by the therapies used for treatment, even if the cancer is gone at the end of treatment. There are side effects to be dealt with for the rest of their lives.</div>
Bhavyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14145527115052637202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-964224610298029468.post-79736458043120588942012-11-26T18:10:00.001-05:002012-11-26T18:10:17.477-05:00Life of Pi: The Movie<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The summary on the book jacket never intrigued me enough to make me want to read this one, but the promos of the movie that I saw on TV were definitely more interesting.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">People are talking about the graphics and animation in the movie but that is really the kind of thing I notice when I watch a movie again <i>after</i> someone has talked to me about that stuff. What I really appreciated about this movie is how strongly it portrays one boy's will to live, to simply beat the odds and survive. It makes me appreciate how easy we have it in life and how we have never had to deal with that kind of constant struggle for days (weeks?) on end just to stay alive.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Not very long ago, my husband and I went out for a walk around the neighborhood on a relatively warm evening. Now most of the houses around here don't have fenced-in yards, and people with dogs often just let them roam free in the yard. More often than not, though, these dogs are well trained and will not step out of their owner's yard. But that particular day, a St Bernard came running towards us from across the street. We were somewhat scared, but we just stood still, because my husband reminded me that it is unwise to run from a dog. The dog went from barking to whimpering and sniffed at our feet for a bit before it went back to where it came from.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I mention this because that incident is the closest I have come (and the closest I will ever come, I hope) to feeling that kind of fear of an animal with sharp teeth. But this movie takes that kind of fear to a whole other level. The boy is afraid of the tiger, but knows that he will definitely die if he does not try to defend himself. If he tries, he has at least a chance at saving his skin. That is the kind of attitude we all need in the face of adversity, large or small.</span></div>
Bhavyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14145527115052637202noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-964224610298029468.post-90320617142209708352012-11-06T19:33:00.001-05:002012-11-07T08:26:49.180-05:00Fudge Brownies - My way<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This is a recipe I tweaked from the original recipe <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/cocoa-brownies-recipe/index.html">here</a> to make it healthier and fudgier. The end result doesn't have a brownie like texture, really, but is mostly like fudge. Gooey, sticky fudge.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I took about 9 oz (that would be about 250 g, give or take) pitted prunes and pureed them in a food processor. You can also put them in a small saucepan first, add maybe half a cup of water and simmer for about 15 minutes. Then puree. The second method gives it a smoother texture and makes it easier to puree them. But I have done it both ways and both work. Dates would also probably work in this recipe, but I have not tried that.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Add to the prune puree 1 1/4 cups of cocoa powder (A cup in America is 8 fl oz or about 237 ml) and 1/2 cup of flour. I always use whole wheat flour. People tend to use refined flour in baking but whole wheat is so much healthier and in a recipe with this much cocoa, you will not taste the difference. Throw in a cup of sugar. The original recipe has a total of 2 cups of sugar but I like more of a dark chocolate flavor and the prunes do add some sweetness so I find that one cup is enough. If you are a milk chocolate person, you may want to use more sugar.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">You may or may not want to add 2 teaspoons of vanilla and a pinch of salt. I sometimes add those, sometimes not. I can't really taste the difference.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">That's it. No butter, no eggs, no baking soda. Just prunes, flour, cocoa and sugar. Bake in an 8 x 8 square pan at 300 degrees F for about 45 minutes. They will look a little under baked when they come out, that's okay. Cool completely and refrigerate overnight. If you try to eat them soon after they come out of the oven, they will taste very prune-ish and not too chocolaty. But after being tucked away overnight in the fridge, you will taste only the chocolate and the fudgey texture. They are best eaten at room temperature, but also take good straight out of the fridge.</span></div>
Bhavyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14145527115052637202noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-964224610298029468.post-1682724189520433302012-11-06T19:20:00.000-05:002012-11-06T19:20:22.710-05:00Musings<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I've had a few people ask me why I haven't been blogging in recent times. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I have had a lot going on that is not the subject matter of a public blog, and it is difficult to put all of that aside and write about random things. I do write privately about things that are on my mind, but I write a public blog post only when I feel a real need to do so.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">On a more positive note, I started a new job about two months ago and it is the best thing that has happened to me in the last year or so. After almost four years, I once again have a boss I can respect and look up to. He is a very bright, brilliant man who is always willing to share his knowledge. Plus, my coworkers here are friendly and willing to help and collaborate whenever I need them to. A very pleasant and much needed change from my last job.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">A random thing that I noticed recently. I have a bunch of different blogs on my RSS feed, some written by people I know, some by those I don't. But in recent months, I have noticed that I tend to read only the ones that are related to food and recipes, such as the Food Network Healthy Eats blog. So here's what I'm thinking I'm going to do. I am going to blog every now and then about my own experiments in the kitchen. Don't expect me to post neatly and systematically written recipes, because that's not how I cook, but I'll share general ideas about what I do with my food.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I never, ever follow a recipe exactly the way it is written out. But I do look for new recipes of all kinds just to get new ideas. Then I tweak it, to make it healthier, or fuse in some Indian flavor if it's not an Indian recipe (so that my husband will be more likely to eat it), or just to substitute some fancy, difficult to procure ingredients for ones that are easier to find.</span></div>
Bhavyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14145527115052637202noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-964224610298029468.post-68891400322708319112012-04-16T12:09:00.003-04:002012-04-16T12:16:20.502-04:00Thoughts<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I realize I have been away from this blog for way too long this time, and I have also been even less communicative than usual with a lot of people. I have just had a lot going on that has not been easy for me over the last few months. It is not something I would like to talk about on a public blog at this point of time. I am still not in a very happy place, but I believe that time can and will heal most wounds and things will get better. But today I am just feeling very nostalgic for my last workplace, where I had a boss who was genuinely concerned for the well being of his employees, and coworkers whom I could actually be friends with.</span>Bhavyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14145527115052637202noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-964224610298029468.post-91033000327648069192011-11-09T17:54:00.002-05:002011-11-09T18:11:53.090-05:00"Prodigal Summer" by Barbara Kingsolver<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">I recently read <i>Animal, Vegetable, Miracle</i> by the same author and found it to be one of the best and most meaningful books I have ever read. Then I found out that she also writes fiction, and actually has more works of fiction to her credit. So I decided to try one of those. This was picked randomly from among the choices, but it was a good choice.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><i>Prodigal Summer</i> contains three interconnected but fairly independent stories set in southern Appalachia, where the author actually lives on a farm with her family. There is the story of a female forest ranger who watches over the mountains, the story of a newly widowed young woman who now owns her husband's family farm and is trying to save it from going bankrupt, and the story of two elderly neighbors, a man and a woman, who cannot see eye to eye on most things but do have a hint of underlying sympathy for each other.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">In this story, it's not just the people that are significant, it's all the flora and fauna around them that they are inevitably connected to. From moths to chestnut trees to snakes to coyotes, everything is part of the same ecosystem that we are and everything affects us in some way or the other. The author gets that message through to her readers in a very beautiful way. The way she talks about every creature being connected to every other creature, ecologically, is deliciously poetic and a pleasure to read.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">All three stories have an important character who is a strong, independent woman who speaks her mind and does what she thinks is right, regardless of what anyone else thinks. A woman perfectly capable of looking after herself and everything else that needs looking after. That is another thing I liked about this story.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Not this minute (I think I should take a bit of a break) but I will definitely pick up more of Barbara Kingsolver's books in the near future.</span></div>Bhavyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14145527115052637202noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-964224610298029468.post-45921744589737032172011-10-11T16:05:00.004-04:002011-10-11T16:39:55.659-04:00Reading On<div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">I have recently rediscovered the joy of reading. Because of my long commute. I do dislike the fact that I have a long commute to work once again, but it's much better than before because I can ride a train from a station that's a four minute drive from home to a station that's a ten minute walk to the office. Sure, they have wi-fi on the train and lots of people use their laptops to work, but I like to take some time to unplug and unwind. I had this one day recently when I forgot to pack another book after I finished reading the one that was in my bag and I felt all restless and fidgety and did bad things to my iPod earphones.<br /><br />So recently I read two books by Elinor Lipman back to back. I know, it's not the best idea and I don't usually read two books by the same person in succession, but this time I did. The first one was called "The Ladies' Man" and was a fairly entertaining, light read, so I picked up "Then She Found Me" next. Totally not what I'd expect from a book which has been made into a movie by someone like Helen Hunt. Crazy book about a woman who first finds the daughter she gave up for adoption years ago and then tells her untrue story after story about her father. Makes no sense at all. It reminded me of the scene in <em>Chameli</em> where Kareena Kapoor tells Rahul Bose one made up sad story after another about why she got into her line of work.<br /><br />Anyway, I have now picked up a novel by Barbara Kingsolver. I did not know that she was much better known for her fiction than her nonfiction and that she wrote a bunch of novels before "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle." This book feels good so far.</span></div></div></div>Bhavyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14145527115052637202noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-964224610298029468.post-20617617250038323412011-09-16T18:28:00.003-04:002011-09-16T19:06:09.156-04:00"Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Barbara Kingsolver is a writer of fiction and non-fiction books who, with her family, decided that, for a whole year, they would only eat food grown in their neighbourhood, grow it themselves, or learn to do without it. That's what it said on the back cover, and I thought, hmm... they probably live somewhere down south where it doesn't snow and you can grow fruit and vegetables all year round.<br /><br />But no, they moved to a 40 acre farm in Virginia where they can basically harvest fresh produce from April (towards late April with careful planning) to October. Not too far south and not too different from Massachusetts. That is not to say that I am planning on growing my own food in my backyard (Maybe a few plants next spring, but certainly not enough to live on. We'll see.).<br /><br />The point is, these days we see food being transported halfway across the globe all the time. And when we see California grapes in Delhi or Mexican watermelon in Boston, we think it's a great thing to be able to enjoy all of that stuff. But that comes with a lot of strings attached.<br /><br />All of this carrying food around uses enormous amounts of fossil fuel. This, of course, always comes to the foreground when a fuel price hike is followed by a tomato price hike. The fuel is needed not just to move the food from one point to another, but also to keep it cool at its ideal temperature. Using fossil fuel like that has numerous consequences for the planet that all of us know about.<br /><br />But that's not the only downside to eating fruit grown halfway across the globe. In order to help keep fruit from rotting on its journey, it is often picked before it is ripe. Now some fruit, like peaches, will sit at room temperature and ripen for you after you bring it home. But some will not. Consider tomatoes (technically fruit). They are picked when they are not yet ripe, so they are still green colored. Then they are exposed to ethylene gas, which turns them red but does not give them the flavor or the nutrition that a vine ripened tomato has.<br /><br />Now, since everybody in the world wants to eat exotic fruit and vegetables grown on different continents and wants to eat them all year long, farmers are forced to rely on chemical fertilizers. pesticides, growth hormones for both plants and animals, and genetically modified seeds and animals. These chemicals pollute our soil and water and kill off birds and other helpful creatures which would otherwise aid in natural pest control. The residual chemicals found in the food we eat and the water we drink spell trouble for us, by, among other things, speeding up ageing and encouraging cancerous growths. The growth hormone used for cows, in particular, has been shown to cause premature puberty (as early as age 7 or 8) in girls and to encourage breast cancer. Chicken growth hormones encourage uterine and ovarian cancers, among others.<br /><br />As awareness of these issues is growing, a lot of farmers are moving back to organic (no chemical pesticides, fertilizer, or hormones) farming methods and large chain restaurants are taking the initiative not to buy meat and dairy treated with hormones. A number of ordinary people are growing some of their own food in their own backyards and buying the rest from local farms and farmers' markets. There are steps in the right direction, but there are still major obstacles to be crossed.<br /><br />Barbara Kingsolver and her family were not purists in their endeavour, in that they did buy flour and a few other items manufactured outside their community, but they still did a remarkable job. Their adventure involved the whole family, down to the six year old daughter who raised her own chickens. At the end of the summer, they dehydrated tomatoes, froze zucchini, canned sauce and did everything they needed to do to enable them to get through the winter. And they did get through it all.<br /><br />The book is written very beautifully, in an almost poetic style that is also occasionally humorous. It is a memoir bundled together with a food encyclopedia and a recipe book. The book writing is also a team effort, with contributions from Barbara's husband and her older daughter (the younger one was too young to sign a book contract). It is an inspiration, a joy ride, and definitely one of the best and most meaningful books I have ever read.</span>Bhavyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14145527115052637202noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-964224610298029468.post-34329349844116764352011-08-23T19:17:00.001-04:002011-08-23T19:34:40.669-04:00Tuesday, August 23, 2011<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">So there was an earthquake centered in Virginia this afternoon. The epicentre was less than 400 miles from Boston, and CNN reports that tremors were felt even across international boundaries in Toronto. I felt nothing. I had gone out for a short walk by the waterfront, as I do on most afternoons that aren't rainy, overly windy, snowy, or overly cold (and there are not a whole lot of those in Boston). When I was walking back to the office, I saw people gathered on the streets. At first I thought they were gathered around the Children's Museum, and that there was probably some special event going on over there. Then I noticed that not a lot of them were accompanied by children. And then I saw that there were people in the streets all the way to the office. Hmm... maybe they have decided to gather around and protest in order to impeach Obama. That's the first thought that came to my mind. A fairly reasonable one for someone who has been following both American and Indian news and reading bumper stickers. But then I noticed that most of these people were just checking their phones or talking on the phones and did not really look predisposed for a protest.
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<br />I ran into one of my colleagues as I turned around the corner towards my office, and he asked me, "Were you scared?"
<br />"Huh? What just happened in here?"
<br />And then he told me that there had been an earthquake a few minutes ago, and the security staff had evacuated the building and we were not allowed to go back in until they were finished "checking the architecture of the building."
<br />"Huh?"
<br />This particular colleague hadn't felt anything either, since he had been on the ground as well. But those up on the fourth floor where I usually spend my weekdays had felt quite a shake and had had quite a scare.
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<br />Now I take only my phone and my office key card with me on my walks. I leave my wallet behind to avoid giving myself an opportunity to give in to the lure of the aromas of bakeries and ice cream stands. (On a side note, there is a pretty well known bakery one block away from my office which sometimes smells like a cinnamon explosion when I walk past it.) I saw some of my colleagues, who usually leave the office around four, standing outside the office with their bags packed up and ready to take home in case the building inspection took too long. I was a little concerned about how I would kill time if it actually did take that long. I could not go home without my train pass or any money, and I could not read my book. Oh well, we'll see.
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<br />Much productivity was lost as many buildings were evacuated throughout the political and financial capitals of the country this afternoon, but I was rather surprised later, when I realized that all of the office buildings in downtown Boston had been evacuated at the same time as each other, and yet the sidewalk was not so crowded that you had to jostle through the crowd to walk across it. There was not an overwhelming amount of noise, no pushing other people around, no panic. I can't help thinking about what it would have been like if this had happened in Delhi (or even if I had been in New York this afternoon). What if all the buildings in Connaught Place were evacuated at the same time? Would I be able to walk around without getting squashed or hurt or maybe having the straps on my handbag torn off?
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<br />This is one of the things I like about Boston. It is a city, but not a huge or overly populated city like New York or Delhi where there are people and more people everywhere you look. Just enough people to make if feel like a city and set it apart from the quieter suburbs. I was surprised an confused by the fact that all the buildings were evacuated, but there was not enough surprise and confusion on the streets to impede pedestrian or vehicular traffic. And everything was back to normal in less than half an hour, much to my relief.</span>
<br />Bhavyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14145527115052637202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-964224610298029468.post-74337031031061671152011-08-23T18:36:00.003-04:002011-08-23T18:57:03.546-04:00"My Journey With Farrah" by Alana Stewart<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">This book contains the memoirs of a woman who stood by her friend for over thirty years, through thick and thin. The part of their lives that it covers, in particular, is from the time Farrah was diagnosed with cancer to the time Alana no longer found herself mentally disposed to write about it, which was only a few days before Farrah died.
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<br />Both these women were Hollywood actresses, seen more on TV than on the silver screen, but that is not of much consequence, except to raise the popularity of the book. Not so much for me, since I hadn't heard of either of them. I just read a few random pages of the book and found it to be heartfelt and touching.
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<br />The book talks about the emotional and the logistic aspects of cancer treatments, most of which were carried out in Germany for Farrah, since Alana knew of this particular clinic carrying out the latest cutting edge procedures. In the US, apparently, it takes longer to get everything approved by the FDA, before any new treatment or medication can be used on an actual patient.
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<br />Cancer treatments can be a very harrowing experience for the patient and also for those close to her, who are, in a lot of ways, going through all of it with her. This woman accompanied her best friend all the way to Germany (from California) and took care of a lot of her physical and emotional needs in a most selfless manner. She did everything she could - call the doctors, find out about newer treatments, bring food, spend quality time - to try to save her friend and keep her happy for as long as she was alive.
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<br />Farrah's cancer went through ups and downs, with doctors declaring that it was gone, then that it was back, then that it was shrinking, then out of control and growing to the size of a tennis ball, but neither Farrah nor Alana ever gave up hope. Farrah kept her strong will to live and her sense of humor through all of it.
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<br />This is a story of friendship, love, courage, selflessness - all of these are exhibited in an exemplary way. It is a story that reminds us of the value of life and tells us to savor the moments of happiness, while also giving us courage to power through the rough patches.</span>
<br />Bhavyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14145527115052637202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-964224610298029468.post-81288154400806307622011-08-10T15:34:00.001-04:002011-08-10T15:59:42.781-04:00"A Good Indian Wife" by Anne Cherian<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">This is the story of a South Indian woman who has lived in a small town all her life and marries a doctor who is settled in the States but was brought up in the same small town. It walks through her journey of getting used to her new life and new situation, of discovering a new country and a new husband, and of finding out that her husband has had an American girlfriend for a long time and got into the arranged marriage mainly because his old and dying grandfather wanted to see him married to a nice Indian girl.
<br />
<br />As the story moves on with the process of the newlyweds discovering things about each other's personalities and actually growing to like each other, it shows the immense strength of the woman's character. It is a strength that I believe a lot of women have and can harness when the need arises, and I have seen it help them get through the toughest situations.
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<br />The plot of the book does seem reminiscent of a Bollywood movie at times, but the book is well written and gives a lot of attention to the character development and thought process, which adds to its literary merit. A review on the book jacket compares Anne Cherian to Jane Austen, which, I thought, was, in some ways, very appropriate. The defining quality that I found in Austen's stories is that there was never anything extraordinary in the plot, but the narration and the way the author played with her words made the book worth reading. Anne Cherian does the same thing pretty well, though probably not quite as well as Jane Austen. Even so, this one was a worthwhile read.</span>
<br />Bhavyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14145527115052637202noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-964224610298029468.post-28025867247824807602011-07-20T18:53:00.002-04:002011-07-20T19:18:06.238-04:00"The Sari Shop Widow" by Shobhan Bantwal<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">This is probably the first time I have read something written by an Indian living in the United States, about Indians living in the United States. Being set in Edison in New Jersey, which is nicknamed "Little India" and has a large Indian population and all manner of Indian stores selling clothing, jewelry, food, groceries and what have you, it's actually not very different from the way it would have been if it had been set in modern day urban India.<br /><br />The central character is a 37 year old widow who has devoted her life to expanding and running her parents' sari shop, after she turned it into a more upscale and exclusive boutique. She lives with her parents, having moved back in after losing her husband. The family is a relatively conservative traditional Gujarati family. They are in financial distress and they bring in the autocratic rich uncle to help them out and save their business from bankruptcy. The uncle also brings with him an English-Indian business partner, who develops a love interest in the widowed niece.<br /><br />As far as I am concerned, the story could just as well have happened in Delhi. I have not been to Edison and have not seen any Indian clothing stores in this country, though I am told that there are a couple in Cambridge in Massachusetts as well. There is only one character in the story who is American, a bar keeper and owner. He could just as well have been an Indian guy from a less conservative family.<br /><br />Anyway, the point is, there's nothing in the book, as far as I can see, that is specific to the lives of Indians in America. However, it is still an entertaining read with quite a bit of Bollywood style drama and romance thrown in. A bit of suspense, a bit of action, flashbacks from thirty years ago, the works. Enough to keep me entertained and wanting to read more. A colorful, vibrant story and a reasonably light read.</span>Bhavyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14145527115052637202noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-964224610298029468.post-31991814094382398922011-07-18T18:46:00.004-04:002011-07-18T19:12:56.164-04:00Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">After nearly four days of taking care of household chores, being rather bored and being miserable about not being able to go to India at this time, I decided that all of this had to stop. My husband is in India. I know I am not by his side, but he has friends and family by his side. He even has <em>my</em> family by his side. I'm the one who is alone and sad and with nobody around who can really cheer me up. So I have to take things into my own hands and do some cheering for up myself. So I decided to go out for a movie, and Farhan Akhtar's latest work seemed promising. Well, it turned out to be exactly what I needed. A few good belly laughs and some inspiration about living life to the fullest and celebrating the fact that you are alive.<br /><br />It had been a while since I went out for a Hindi movie. It had also been a really long while since I caught a movie on its opening weekend. I think this may be the most enjoyable movie I've seen since <em>3 Idiots</em>. Though, of course, I have been watching a relatively limited number of movies lately.<br /><br />It was nice to see Katrina Kaif opposite a relatively good looking, non annoying actor. A charming actress like her needs and deserves to be seen opposite the likes of Hrithik Roshan and Ranbir Kapoor and to stay away from those of Akshay Kumar and Salman Khan.<br /><br />The other day I was watching MTV India and they were playing the title song from <em>Rock On!! </em>The words <em>Rock on!! Zindagi milegi na dobra... </em>merged beautifully into the next song, which happened to be <em>Dil Dhadakne Do</em>. Some lovely tracks have gone into this soundtrack, which, like the rest of the film, are reminiscent of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy's earlier collaborations with Farhan Akhtar but manage to hold their own.<br /><br />Performances by the lead trio were all really good, especially Farhan Akhtar. The character he played was also very interesting, with his almost cheesy sense of humor. Almost cheesy but not quite. He had the audience laughing their heart out at various points in the film with his jokes. And he also managed to hold their hearts with his poetry. Farhan Akhtar may be one of the best things that has happened to the Indian film industry in recent times. Although, if I may add, when they screened a promo of <em>Don 2</em> right before the movie, I was thinking, I can't believe this same guy made that movie too. But you know, he's a versatile guy. He can make a commendable <em>Karthik Calling Karthik</em> and a wonderful <em>Rock On!!</em> so it's okay if he occasionally disappoints with a <em>Luck By Chance</em>.</span>Bhavyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14145527115052637202noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-964224610298029468.post-20694103037059994392011-07-14T20:50:00.005-04:002011-07-14T21:21:46.147-04:00Random Thoughts<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Does anyone else think that Reese Witherspoon and Konkona Sen resemble each other from certain angles? I was watching a Reese Witherspoon movie last night and I thought that when you see her profile and she is smiling, she looks exactly like Konkona.<br /><br />I am stuck with quite a lot of food that I need to eat by myself before it goes bad since my husband left for India rather suddenly. The fruit and vegetables I can take care of, and I drink most of the milk anyway, but there were two loaves of bread and I don't normally eat that much of it, he eats most of it. So tonight I adapted from a recipe I saw on Food Network once. I put four tomatoes and four slices of bread in a blender, and used that blend as the base for my <em>lobiya dal</em>. The end result was a thick curry with a rich taste and texture. Not bad at all. Food Network rocks.<br /><br />Is it just me or does anyone else crave peanut butter when they read the Peanuts comic strip?<br /><br />Why is that some people spend all day on Facebook and then complain about how people resort to text messages or Facebook posts for things that warrant a phone call? (Bhatti, this is not targeted at you.)</span>Bhavyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14145527115052637202noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-964224610298029468.post-20905863335264099812011-07-14T19:34:00.002-04:002011-07-14T19:54:46.390-04:00In Memory<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">My father-in-law passed away yesterday after about ten days in intensive care. He was quite critical, and all of us were preparing ourselves for this for those ten days. What we were not prepared for was him going from walking about and talking almost normally to being unable to breathe on his own in a single day.<br /><br />It was less than a year ago that my father-in-law told me that his father-in-law had passed away. I lost my grandfather a few months later. I thought we were at the age when we would have to deal with the loss of grandparents.<br /><br />I saw my husband off yesterday as he took a flight to India. I would give anything to be with him right now. I cannot travel internationally right now because of visa hassles. I have been trying my level best to console and comfort him over the last few days but I hate that I can't do all that when he really needs me to. Today was the first day in a long time when I ate all three meals by myself. I'm not too happy about that either.<br /><br />When I was a kid, I had all four grandparents. My maternal grandmother was paralyzed, wheelchair ridden and unable to speak intelligibly, but she still had a presence that could not be denied or ignored. We lost her when I was only eight, and then my maternal grandfather went to be with her only a few months later. But I still have memories of all four grandparents. I can visualize their faces. I can hear their voices in my head. In the case of my other grandmother, I can hear still her voice on the phone. I am sad at the thought that any kids I will have will never get to see and know their other grandfather. As a matter of fact, even I didn't really get to know him all that well, in the limited time we spent together and the weekly phone conversations we had.<br /><br />Life has its way of reminding us, every so often, that we cannot take anything for granted and that our time with our loved ones is limited and we should do what we can to make the best of it. My heart goes out to my mother-in-law in this moment of sorrow.</span>Bhavyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14145527115052637202noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-964224610298029468.post-59972347468079144582011-07-14T19:22:00.004-04:002011-07-14T19:34:26.614-04:00Perspective<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">For lack of a better title, I put what I put in the title box. This is about my perspective on my little brother's engagement, who, I am beginning to see, is not so little any more.<br /><br />I was a little taken by surprise when my mother first told me that my brother was getting engaged in June and then they would set a date for the wedding. The first thought that came to my mind was, isn't he too young? I know he's financially stable now and doing pretty well for himself, but, you know, even though I am only a little over two years older than he is, he has always been the little one. When we argued and fought, my mom always told me that I ought to know better since I was the older one. I guess that's true for pretty much every mom. Every Indian mom, at least. My husband had the same sort of experience with his not-so-little-any-more brother.<br /><br />When I had had a chance to think about it, after they had set a date for the wedding, I calculated that he would be a few months older on his wedding day than I was on mine. Which is, I'll admit now, not too young to get married, although at the time I was constantly telling my family that I wasn't quite ready yet. It's about the right time and the right age. But of course, what is more important is finding the right person. And that piece of the puzzle is in place.</span>Bhavyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14145527115052637202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-964224610298029468.post-24567967253842825862011-07-14T18:48:00.001-04:002011-07-14T19:28:32.455-04:00"Sea of Poppies" by Amitav Ghosh<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I'd wanted to read something by Amitav Ghosh for quite a while. This book was the one I happened to pick up.<br /><br />Set against the backdrop of the lead-up to the opium war, the central character is woman with a young daughter and an opium addicted husband. Part of it is set in poppy fields and an opium factory, and part of it aboard a ship. The two settings come together in the play of words that forms the title.<br /><br />Readers can tell that a lot of research went into this book. The author has taken great care to get all his facts right. He has explored at great length the dialect spoken by Indian and middle eastern ship workers, the cultural situation and the caste divide of the time and the issues faced by farmers forced to cultivate poppies. He's also acquired a lot of knowledge on how every part of the poppy plant, the flowers, seeds, leaves and stem, was used at the time.<br /><br />The story itself is intriguing. It starts out as four, maybe five independent stories which evidently are going to come together later in the book, but it is interesting to keep guessing exactly how everything will come together. The only downside was that the book was a little long for my liking, but I surprised myself by managing to finish it anyhow. Good read.</span>Bhavyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14145527115052637202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-964224610298029468.post-78859556431661718822011-06-22T20:09:00.004-04:002011-06-28T12:25:55.954-04:00The Simpler Things in Life<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">After being addicted to e-mail, cell phones, blogger and the like for years, I have been trying to teach myself to take it easy and slow down. I barely check e-mail on weekends and in the evening after work these days. It's much nicer to just relax, listen to some music or settle down with a good book or cook something or maybe just enjoy a meal at leisure. I no longer carry my phone everywhere I go. Unless I am driving by myself, in which case I have to be prepared in case I have car trouble (which, thankfully, has not happened to me while driving alone). If I am out in the neighbourhood taking a walk, I don't need a phone. Maybe an iPod, but not necessarily. I sometimes like to walk at a leisurely pace and see which flowers are blooming around the neighbourhood and how many of them I can name. Or, if I am walking near my office at lunch time, I just visit the waterfront and watch the seagulls and the little kids (I work very close to the Boston Children's Museum. There are always a lot of kids around. At least in good weather, which is a prerequisite for me taking a walk outdoors.) as they play around. </span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">And you know what? It may sound like a cliche, but it feels really good to slow down and smell the roses.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span>Bhavyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14145527115052637202noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-964224610298029468.post-70450504764127741332011-05-19T14:00:00.000-04:002011-05-19T14:00:15.470-04:00"The Writing Class" by Jincy Willett<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">This was actually a book I picked randomly from Amazon and is in a genre that I do not read all that often. It is a murder mystery. Actually, it is a mystery that turns into a murder mystery near the end of the story.<br /><br />It is about a group of students attending a writing workshop at an extension school, and their instructor. One of the students is someone who has been trying to get published for a long time, without success, and is bitter as a result. This person is always pulling pranks on the members of the group, the instructor, and, as we find out later, various publishing houses. The pranks go from being just a little dangerous but causing no actual harm, to actually taking people's lives.<br /><br />It is a situation where every single member of the group is a suspect. The story nudges the reader towards suspecting one person and then another and so on, until we find out who the prankster really was. It keeps you glued to its pages and keeps you guessing what's coming next. I managed to finish this book because it was a mystery but it was not spine-chilling scary. Probably because it built up gradually, starting with mostly harmless pranks. And I have to admit that I enjoyed it, though I do not usually like to read books in this genre. This is the kind of thing that would be fun to read again and look for the clues hidden in the story. Maybe I will.</span>Bhavyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14145527115052637202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-964224610298029468.post-23977942546728601692011-05-13T14:02:00.005-04:002011-05-13T14:16:27.871-04:00"One Two Three . . . Infinity" by George Gamow<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Another book I'd meant to read for quite a while. This one was recommended by Bhatti a long time ago.<br /><br />It started out seeming to be a mathematics book. The number theory discussed in the beginning was one of the most engaging pieces of non fiction or fiction I have read in recent times. And then it moved on to talking about relativity, time and space, single celled organisms, genetic structure, and just about everything that makes up part of why the world that we live in is the way it is.<br /><br />I have to admit, I skipped a few passages which were going deeper into physics or chemistry than I would have liked them to, but I read all of the stuff about maths and genetics. I also have to admit that I may have given up and closed the book if the author had started with the nebulae and stars and talked about numbers later in the book. But the number theory part was interesting enough to make me believe in the book.<br /><br />This book has a quality to it that I do not recall having seen in any other texts I have read on similar subjects. It made me actually marvel at the intricacies of the functioning of the world that we live in, and the developments that have been made in scientific studies after overcoming obstacles that seemed insurmountable at first. It made me appreciate all of that like I have not done before, even though I actually <em>knew</em> a lot of the stuff that the book talks about.</span>Bhavyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14145527115052637202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-964224610298029468.post-80456260584042086562011-05-09T19:47:00.003-04:002011-05-09T19:56:32.309-04:00An Observation<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">A few days ago, we were at a food court in a mall and we chose to get some Chicken Teriyaki at a Japanese place. There was a Chinese (or Japanese, Korean, Thai or Vietnamese - I'm afraid I cannot tell them apart) family at the table next to ours eating <em>naan</em> with <em>dal</em> and <em>paneer</em>. I found that pretty interesting. A few days later, on the train, I was reading a random book by an American author whom I had never heard of (but I am enjoying her book so far). The American lady sitting across the aisle from me was reading <em>The God of Small Things </em>(which, I admit, I don't remember much of, but was the only book that, as soon as I finished it, made me think, "I would love to read this again." I haven't actually done that.).<br /><br />This country has its good and its evil, like any other country, but one thing I like about it is that you can find people of various different cultures and nationalities who enrich the culture with their own contributions and are also, often, willing to take some things from other cultures and adapt it into their lifestyle.</span>Bhavyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14145527115052637202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-964224610298029468.post-39397843741856402102011-05-09T19:37:00.003-04:002011-05-09T19:47:10.064-04:00A Thought<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">So I was reading this book called <em>Food Rules</em> by Michael Pollan, which, by the way, is an interesting book that you can read cover to cover in under an hour and should definitely read, especially if you eat at all in the States.<br /><br />This guy talks about highly processed and preservative added foods like breakfast cereal and snack bars, which are alarmingly popular in this part of the world. These foods never go bad, even after their suggested "Best Before" date. They can sit on shelves for years and years and not rot. Pollan suggests that you should only eat food that will eventually go bad.<br /><br />In a different context, he talks about why food goes bad. He puts it differently from what I've usually read or heard. He says that we are in competition with the fungi and bacteria and what not around us for nutrition. When these creatures get to the food before we do, we say that the food has gone bad.<br /><br />When you put these two things together, which he doesn't do in his book, you see that single celled bacteria know that processed food items do not deliver real nutrition, but we, the ones with the more highly developed brains, eat that "food" anyway. Something to think about.</span>Bhavyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14145527115052637202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-964224610298029468.post-84925134706858090312011-04-11T15:59:00.000-04:002011-04-11T15:59:06.889-04:00More Experiments in the Kitchen<div><span >I have been learning to make my favorite dishes healthier without sacrificing their taste and texture. There's a lot of information on doing that if you look for it on the I<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">nternet</span> or in specialized cookbooks. I am learning to use that information to my advantage.<br /><br />One very popular trick among the health conscious folks out here is to bake food that you would normally fry. They use it for chicken wings, French fries, crispy fish and so on. I tried it with <em>samosas</em> and <em><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">pakoras</span></em>. You have to be familiar with your oven to know the best height for your baking racks for something you are experimenting with, but it's a great way to save a whole lot of fat and calories. The <em>samosas</em> turned out pretty well, and the <em><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">pakoras</span></em> turned out really well. Maybe because I knew my oven better when I did the <em><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">pakoras</span></em>, or maybe because of the nature of the dish.<br /><br />But the stuff I am most excited about is the almost fat free chocolate cake and the almost fat free <em><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">dal</span> <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">makhani</span></em> I made. These are both things I really, really like. I made both of these without any butter, oil or cream. Well, except for the tablespoon of olive oil (for about four servings) that went into the <em><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-error">dal</span></em> to help keep the liquid from rushing out from under the pressure cooker's whistle. I don't really know if you can do without that little bit of oil, and I don't really think you should try to do without it. A little oil, especially the good kind, should always be part of your diet.<br /><br />Here's what I did with the cake. I replaced the butter in the recipe with pureed prunes in the same quantity by volume. When I first read about this suggestion on the Food Network <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/">website</a>, I was more than a little scared, because I have always hated prunes. My grandmother would sing their praises and try to get us to eat them everyday, but I couldn't really swallow them without feeling a desire to throw up.<br /><br />But after having tried a bunch of food network recipes and cooking ideas, I put a little more trust in these people and decided to try it. Of course, prunes are good for you because they have a boatload of antioxidants. Plus, they are on the sweeter side, especially if compared to the butter they replace, so you can cut down significantly on the sugar in the recipe. You know what? Once you mix up the prune puree with cocoa powder, everything tastes like cocoa. It's all good. Mix it up with some flour and eggs, bake it up, eat it up. You can see some prune bits, depending on how finely you puree it, but you can't really taste them.<br /><br />And for the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-error"><em>dal</em></span>, I replaced cream with unsweetened fat free condensed milk (or evaporated milk, whatever you like to call it). The milk, though unsweetened, is a little on the sweeter side because its sugars caramelize at the high temperatures that it is subjected to, so you would want to either balance it out with some yogurt, or spice it up a little more than usual. The <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-error"><em>dal</em></span> tasted just like my mom used to make it. To me, that's really terrific taste.</span></div>Bhavyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14145527115052637202noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-964224610298029468.post-12792966149913340492011-04-07T15:46:00.005-04:002011-04-07T15:55:20.380-04:00Life in the Suburbs<span><span class="Apple-style-span" >I was never able to sleep on a moving vehicle while I was in India. Not on a bus, train, metro rail, car, or even a smooth flight on a Sahara Airlines plane, or even the Continental Airlines plane on which I flew to the States, where you couldn't really tell you were sitting in something that was moving. But now, I take a good nap on the local train either in the morning or in the evening or both, depending on how tired I am, at least once or twice a week. It's not a particularly comfortable train, though it is comfortable enough. I don't know if it has to do with the fact that I am getting older and feel the need to rest more. But it definitely has to do with the fact that I feel safe. I can fall asleep with my wallet on my lap, which is where I usually leave it after I take it out to retrieve my rail pass. I'll often have a book and/or an iPod on my lap or in my hands, and nobody will touch it even if I am sound asleep and have to set an alarm on my phone to make sure I don't miss my station.</span><br /></span><span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" >When my office first decided to move to Boston from the suburban location (which was less than twenty minutes away from my house), I wasn't so sure about how I would respond to the long commute, which is about as long as it used to be when I was in Delhi and travelling to Noida for work. But the good part about it is that there is a mostly reliable train service to get into the city. It lets me endure a long commute since I do not have to put up with the stress of driving or sitting in traffic with someone else driving. It gives me a chance to read a lot of the books I have long wanted to read but never got around to, not because I didn't have the time, but because there were so many other things I could do at home - cook, eat, walk around, or just watch TV, that the reading was often sidelined.</span><br /></span><span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" >So these days, I am a city mouse by day and a country mouse by evening. During the day, I am in a place where there are lots of people and cars (though a lot less than Delhi or New York City) and there are restaurants and stores of all sorts all over the place. I sometimes go out for a walk after lunch and enjoy the bustling city. In the evening, I take a quiet walk around a quiet neighbourhood where I sometimes don't see anybody pass by at all. Sometimes I do see a car or someone else walking or jogging, but not necessarily. I like the peace and quiet of the outdoors and the feel of the indoors when I come back in to cook something for dinner. I like the wide open spaces in the neighbourhood that I do not see in the city. There are wide open fields all over the place that sometimes seem to stretch out indefinitely. I like the fact that the only sounds I can usually hear are birds and maybe a neighbor's dog. And the ticking of a wall clock. If I am at home by myself and not watching TV, that is. It's kind of the best of both worlds - being surrounded by lively crowds during the day, and getting the peace and quiet you need in the evening.</span></span>Bhavyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14145527115052637202noreply@blogger.com8