Bundles of joy.

We all have a liking for some special people or things. The people or things that make our day. That lift our spirits, remind us of someone or something, or even give us a nostalgia. I too am fond of a few things that makes me feel good. I don't know why, or how, but they seem to have a very positive effect on my mind and my thoughts. Its like they show me a ray of hope when I feel low.

Rain!

Image by: Edal

I find rain a happy expression from the heavens. Every year I make sure I go out in the first rain of the season and get drenched, no matter what, alone or with friends. I simply love it. Be it just a drizzle or heavy, rains will always make me happy.

I look up to the sky filled with dark clouds, lightning and thunder. The rain drops pouring down on me. I can feel my face wet, and can smell the wet soil beneath my feet. The spread out my arms and surrender myself. I want to be drenched from head to toe and my soul absorbing it all. Rain will wash away my fears, and my cheeks stained by tears. It will kill all my bad memories and my mind will bloom again like a new flower. Its like being in a magical place. The sound of thunder is music to my ears and the lightning is a visual treat.

I look around and feel the freshness. The earth that was parched a few moments ago, from the summer heat, now seems to be satisfied, like my mind.

Kids!

Kids are angels on Earth. Being in their company makes me feel happy. Their innocence and inquisitive mind makes me wonder. Their innocent questions can puzzle an adult. I look at them with awe, how these little creatures bring us joy. Their divine smile and bright starry eyes.... Their angelic laughter are like bells ringing in heaven. A kid's hug makes me feel loved and closer to God. 

Tea!

A hardcore tea lover will always choose a cup of a proper tea over property, anytime. I am one of them. Morning, afternoon, evening, night or midnight...we will never deny tea!

I love its aroma, the taste and colors. Let it be green tea, jasmine tea or black tea, its like a holy drink to us!

Tea reminds me of my school days when I had started drinking it out of necessity to pull off my nights studying. Now its more than a necessity...Its more than a habit...Its an addiction and I'm loving it!

It fills me with breaths of life with little sips.....

Beaches!

Image by: KingKurt22

Till now I've taken 5-6 trips to different beaches in India and wish to visit more. I prefer a quiet place. An untouched beach would be a delight! No one around. Just me and my loneliness. Blue waters, white sands, beautiful coconut trees around. A small hut by the beach.

I love walking by the sea, leaving my footprints on the sand as a souvenir. But the waves wash them away every time. I love that feeling when the waves caress my feet time and again.....endlessly. I love the sound of waves every time it reaches my ears....endlessly. I love the view of the horizon where the sparkling blue waters meet the clear blue sky. The cool breeze caressing my face. The noise of the seagulls, and watching the sun set down.

Lying down on the sand by the fire and staring at the starry sky above on a dark night. Wondering how the sun rise would be... Anticipations....They keep you going!

We all have our own reasons to be happy. People or things...or events...that define us, our lives, and our state of mind. What is it in your case?

Road trip to Amalner.

Hello my dear Readers! I'm writing about my last weeks's 2 days road trip to  Amalner. Amalner is a small town in Jalgaon District in Maharashtra (India). We went to Amalner to visit a famous temple of Mangal Graha (Planet Mars). There are only 2 such temples in the entire world, one being in Amalner, another one in Kolkata. So it was a really good opportunity to visit one of these temples.

Chain of mountains on throughout the way.

According to Vedic astrology, Mangal (Planet Mars) signifies strength, anger, energy, impulsiveness; and it is considered malefic in nature. Mars is the ruler of blood, marrow and muscles.

As I said, Mangal is considered malefic by nature, it is one of the concept in astrology and is a subject of worry.  If a person who has Mangal Dosh in his/her birth-chart, marries someone who is not a mangali, may cause strife, lack of prosperity and other troubles, including death of the spouse. These are the assertions by the Vedic astrology.

The town of Amalner was not very big, not very clean, but the visit to this temple made our trip memorable. My mind was at peace. The temple atmosphere was very holy, spiritual with the priests chanting shlokas in Sanskrit. There were many devotees who had come to offer prayers, that went on for an hour. They performed rituals so that the Mars God would calm down and prosperity will come their way, and they will get relief from the troubles that they face due to the mangal dosh.

We offered our prayers and red lentils to the Lord Mars. We got a whole coconut as a prasaad (holy offering from the temple), that we  are supposed to eat. We then spent some time in the garden listening to the holy shlokas.

The temple had a beautiful garden, with idols of Lord Krishna and Lord Shiva. I took some pictures to share with you all. However, nobody is allowed to take pictures of the main temple and the idol of Lord Mars. So this is a picture of Lord Mars that I took from a holy scripture called as Mangal Strotra.

The holy scriptures for the pilgrims given by the priest.

An idol of Lord Krishna.

Lord Shiva.

Lord Shiva.

The garden in the temple.

Outside the temple there were various stalls selling things required for prayers, like flowers, garlands, incense, coconuts, red lentils, etc. Other items like framed pictures of various deities, brass idols of gods, holy scriptures, finger-rings, key-chains, pendants with a picture of gods on it, etc. were being sold.

Brass idols of God.

Threads to tie on the wrist.

Key-chains!

This was the best part of the trip!

Now talking about the not-so-good part. Its really difficult to find a decent place for the stay. Hotels don't exist there! There are guest houses that have super-dirty rooms at a high price. It was so dirty that I wouldn't stay there even for free. We were then planning to go to Jalgaon city, 65 km from Amalner. But fortunately a guy told us about a lodging. We got an air-conditioned room at just 800 INR! That is about 12 Euros or 15 USD.

Hell cheap. But again it was not very posh, but way better than those guest houses.

How to reach Amalner?

I stay in Nasik city. Its around 190 km from Dhule. And the temple is 40 km from Dhule. So it was our first time, we didn't know anything about the town. Hence, now that you all know, I would suggest, if you ever plan a trip to Amalner, go to Jalgaon city by train and book a room there. Jalgaon city is 65 km from Amalner. So you can take a cab or a bus to Amalner. That would be more convenient.

Do not miss these!

1. This is a Gurudwara in Dhule. Do pay a visit!

2. This Lassi (A preparation of curd, served chilled) in Amalner. It was simply awesome just 20 INR per glass! Shop name- Saibaba Ice-creams!

During this time of the year, when summer heat is at its peak, Amalner, Jalgoan and Dhule are really hot. The temperature goes beyond 40 degrees Celsius! In fact it was unbearable. There is load-shedding for 5-6 hours a day in Amalner, which adds to the trouble. I would say its better to go there during winters.

National highway was awesome. It was a smooth ride, except for some unnecessary super-bumpy speed breakers. The petrol started leaking. A guy on a bike came speeding from behind and told us to stop. God bless him. I thought we had our petrol-tank damaged in the middle of nowhere. There was a two-wheeler garage nearby and the man came to our rescue. He checked and the leak stopped. A pipe had come out and the tank wasn't damaged! We heaved a sigh of relief....Stupid speed-breaker, you can now imagine how bumpy it could get.

I got some nice pics of the country side. Some pics I took from the moving car itself. We came back home the next day at midnight!

National Highway 3.

So that was around a 40 hours long trip. Well it was a good trip over all. Something I would fondly remember.

Movie Review- The Avengers (2012)

Movie: The Avengers (2012) aka Avengers Assemble- Ireland (English title). USA title- "Marvel's The Avengers"


IMDB Rating- 8.9/ 10.

Watch the teaser trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkoKBJ7rgEs&feature=related

P.S.- If you have an option between 2D and 3D, I would suggest you to go for 2D. The graphics are awesome. I was disappointed watching 3D because I personally don't like 3D. Glasses make the movie look dark and clumsy.

Finally, today the much awaited movie 'The Avengers' is released all over India. I being one of those desperate fans of superheroes rushed to watch the 1st day 1st show of 'The Avengers'. I had went in there to watch the movie with extremely high expectations, and I'm glad to say that I am overwhelmingly delighted and satisfied with the movie. Well, I like all the super heroes in this movie. But, being a Robert Downey Jr. fan,  I had planed to watch this movie just for Iron Man. But now it had made me fall in love with all of them, all over again.

Its indeed, every fan's dream come true...The fans of the iconic comic characters Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Black Widow and Hawkeye!

Its a unique concept to unite our favorite superheroes and form a team to fight evil and save the Earth. The movie was a power-packed combination of action, intensity and humor. The movie has a run-time of +2 hours and it just keeps you gripped to the edge of your seats as time flies by. The brilliant performances by the cast, the incredible script and the action sequences will make you wonder! Director Joss Whedon did an excellent job bringing together all our superheroes, and balancing their star egos and handling this multi-million project so diligently.

Let me tell you about the characters and cast in the movie.

Our 6 Superheroes

Iron Man/ Tony Stark- Robert Downey Jr.

The Incredible Hulk/ Bruce Banner- Mark Ruffalo.

Thor- Chris Hemsworth.

Captain America/ Steve Rogers- Chris Evans.

Black Widow/ Natasha Romanoff- Scarlett Johansson.

Hawkeye/ Clint Barton- Jeremy Renner.

The Villain! 

Loki- Tom Hindleston. 

And the rest...

Nick Fury- Samuel L. Jackson.

Agent Phil Coulson- Clark Gregg.

Agent Maria Hill- Cobie Smulders.

Selvig- Stellan Skarsgard.

Pepper Potts- Gwyneth Paltrow.

The Iron Man didn't just waltz through the movie in his suit rolling over the other characters. No other characters were overshadowed by the 'larger than life' image of Tony Stark. Everybody owned the movie and did their best. Hulk adds to the humor and actually steals the show when he 'hulks out'. It looks amazingly real, more real than in the Hulk movies. The witty remarks and sarcasm of Tony Stark towards Thor and Captain America only spices up the humor part, literally wanting you to laugh out loud. The conversations between Loki and Iron Man, "We have an army"......."We have a Hulk" makes you feel the wit and razor-sharp sarcasm of Tony Stark.

Every superhero has a different personality and set of rules and way to work which leads to the unexpected rivalry among them, when Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D brings them together to form a team, his programme called as 'The Avengers initiative' to fight with our villain Loki and his army. Tony Stark, Thor and Bruce Banner do not follow the command structure, while Black Widow, Captain America and Hawkeye are used to following orders. The bitterness and discord between the superheroes, the fight scenes are spectacular.

The view of Iron Man and Thor battling it out was something you don't want to miss. The action sequences and the special effects, the dialogues are superb! The music and soundtracks only did good. It alleviats the action sequences and makes you completely lost in the movie making you a part of it. 

The Black Widow is good at her moves to pull down the enemies and she looks just so stunning. She also had a love interest in none other than our very own the bad-ass Hawkeye! Captain America gives, the first Avenger, was perfectly solidified by Chris Evans, with his acting more natural and dialogue delivery more spontaneous. And Thor- OMG! His make up and attire made him look like a God who has just sprung out of some comic book. He interacted with the other heroes organically (obviously that was after the battling with Stark!) and looked so natural!

Loki's character too was extremely interesting. Tom Hindleston delivered it with such a sharpness and charisma that at one point of time I felt like he was really casting a spell on me too. I was watching him with my mouth open! Excellent job! The attire, make up, his hair styling suited him and his character of Loki so well, OMG! I never thought I would fall in love with a character like him, the bad guy...Sigh!

Miss Pepper Potts...She looked amazing, she didn't wear her usual formal outfits,  but something casual and maintained that charm of hers. She pairs so perfectly with Tony Stark!

And Agent Coulson or lets just call him Phil, he too was pretty good, subtle yet brave...Too bad...He died in the movie :(

I loved the movie and its worth watching, not just once! I will surely get a copy of 'The Avengers' and celebrate and cherish it as one of my all time movies for the rest of my life...

Thank you Marvel for giving us this wonder to marvel at! Great job by the entire team. The best Marvel movie till date. Joss Whedon is the king of comic book movies! Hats-off to him.

Globe-trekking with my Soul-mate.

I have always had these dreams...strange ones...I had a similar dream last night too. Just that this time it was Udaipur.  Udaipur, a city in the northern state of Rajasthan, India. I have never been there. But in my dreams I have been out there, walking down the busy lanes, looking at the shops with awe. They had beautiful things, colorful. Turbans, sarees, folk toys, jewelry, handicrafts. I bought a few things too.

I didn't realize until I woke up to the alarm at 10 am. Yes I dream...I dream about people I have never met...I dream about places I have never visited, like the USA, UK, ..the list is endless. I have even had a dream about my kids. Strange but true. It is said that our dreams are have a connection with the state of our mind, our desires, and our life. They are not just dreams...They come from our sub-conscious mind.

I want to go Globe-trekking the Ian Wright way- Backpacking! Living cheap and going dirty, the way Ian likes, but with a taste of luxury sometimes. Go on crazy adventurous trips! Visit the weirdest and the loveliest places around the world. meet different people, go sight-seeing, learn about their culture, customs and traditions, fashion, history, way of life...and yes, about their food! Food fascinates me the most. Visit the museums and building of historic importance. And then share my experiences with all. 

The people on TLC, and Fox History & Travel inspire me. They take me one step closer to my dream every time I turn these channels on!

I want to go around the world with him....the love of my life. I don't know where is he...What he looks like. But I still await him. The one who is like me, thinks like me, shares common interests. For it takes two to Tango!

I have read in magazines about the couples who go honey-mooning to various countries on bicycles. How adventurous is that! And I would love to try it out...

Other than the adventurous stuff mentioned above, I have always had a dream of visiting Switzerland after I watched the movie 'Dilwaale dulhaniya le jaenge' when I was around 7 years old. We want to see how they make Swiss cheese. I want to walk down those green grassy hills holding his hand as they show in movies, and taking pictures with lovely cows grazing on the hills...And sitting on the banks of a river with our feet immersed in the water...and talking.

Italy...for I am Pizza lover, so would be he..I want to go to Venice for a ride in Gondola. And then Florence...And yes..Milan, the fashion capital, I need to make his pocket lighter!

A month long trip to France. I know one month is too long...But I want to get the feel, how would it be walking down the streets of France like a native French person does? As if I had known that place since ever. Paris is said to be the most romantic city in the world. How it would be holding hands and looking down from the Eiffel tower.

The cities and countryside of Greece, Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Germany, Russia, Spain, Japan, Thailand...And the entire South American continent too. The list is endless.

I know I am talking a lot about Europe...I'm in love with a place I have never seen...Like I have a connection..Ever time I read about or watch these places on TV, I feel they are calling me...

Now I got America fever! How would life be there...Fair and lovely??? Fair in context of government policies, rules and regulations..law enforcement, discipline, cleanliness. The Statue of Liberty has always fascinated me...The night-life in Las Vegas...Hollywood...And yes the snow fall and the storms in USA. Going on a safari, bird watching..visiting a zoo, getting a tattoo and every possible freaky activity.

Walking along the beaches of Miami Florida...White sand blue waters. Writing our names on the sand in a heart! Having a candle-light dinner on the beach under the starry sky with the candles placed in the empty coconut shells! So romantic....Sigh! Not to forget the adventure part..sky-diving and water skiing.

Ice skiing in north Carolina and mountain climbing New Jersey...

Scuba diving in the waters of Hawaii...Falling in love with nature. Trying our hands at surfing. 

We want to to Egypt...Pyramids! Morocco...It seemed to be awesome on Discovery Channel.

And yes! Singapore, Malaysia, Hong kong and Bangkok...Dad says its awesome! Dubai too....for Burj Khalifa and Dubai is a shoppers' paradise...So yet another occasion to splurge!

How can I forget Australia. It as the Opera house and the Bondi Beach. And if we go to Australia we can't miss New Zealand!  And I want to visit the thousand s of cities I didn't mention here.

Will we be able to make it in just one life-time? Travelling around the world and living the way all the people live? Living like a thousands of them...Well if Ian can...So can we! So much to do i life..isn't it?

Pamper thy feet! - A perfect pedicure at home!

Our feet are the part of our body we neglect the most. We stand, we walk, jump, dance...feet are the most important part of our body and hence contribute a lot to our bodily movements. The fatigue and strain, wear and tear..we sometimes ignore everything. We should take some time out to pamper our feet as well. Pedicure is the best way to give your feet the relief they deserve.

You don't have time or you feel too lazy to take a trip to the salon or a pedicure spa for the pedicure to be done...don't worry, we can do it at home! So today I'm sharing pedicure ideas, to get soft and nice looking feet. And after this you will definitely feel relaxed and rejuvenated. Also well groomed feet indicate that you take good care of yourself.

What we need?

There are pedicure tool kits available in the market, that consist of nail clipper, nail file, nail scissors, pumice stone, foot wash, foot scrub, foot creams, etc. So you will need these basic things.

Apart from that you will need a pedicure bowl. Or a tub too will do. You need any fragrant oil like almond/lavender oil or any oil of your choice, it will help you relax. Alternately you can use a few slices of lemon and oranges, and rose petals.

Epsom salt helps in exfoliation, i.e. removing dead skin, we need about 4-5 tbsp of it. If you don't have it, you can use the bath salt you may have.

A towel to dry the feet. Some cotton balls, a nail enamel of your choice.

How to do it?

1. Remove the traces of nail color on your toenails, if any, with a nail color remover. Cut your toenails in a desired shape. Make sure you do not cut the corners of the nails too much, or it will hurt. File them using a nail filer to smoothen the edges. Swipe in one direction only, don't file back and fro. Some people prefer it doing after the soaking when the nails are soft. You may do it before of after soaking depending upon your nails, whether hard of soft.

2. Fill in some warm water in the pedicure bowl or a tub, enough to cover up your ankles. Add in your favorite fragrant oil or rose petals and slices of oranges and lemons. Add Epsom salt and foot wash. Soak your feet for 15-20 minutes. This will give relief to your feet. Also it will help soften the dead skin, calluses and corns.

3. Now take your feet out of water, dry them with a towel and apply cuticle cream on the base of the toenails. Leave it for 5-10 minutes. In the meanwhile, rub the sole of your feet with the pumice stone, especially the heels and the underside of your toes. You may apply some body wash gel on the pumice stone. This process will help reduces calluses.

4. Then, wipe off the cuticle cream and gently push back the cuticles using a cuticle pusher. Apply scrub to your feet, top side and sole. Scrub nicely, especially near the toenails, the heels and ankles. Be gentle, we need to remove only the top layer of the skin, that is the dead skin. Scrub gently each foot for 5 minutes. Wash your feet clean and dry them.

5. Now apply a foot cream, or a moisturizer to your feet and massage gently for a few minutes. This will help the skin from drying up. You may then wear cotton socks overnight. If you do not have so much of time you may skip wearing the socks and follow the next step.

6. Applying nail color! Place small cotton balls between your toes to maintain some distance. First apply the base coat, let it dry. Then apply a coat of nail color of your choice. Let it dry before you apply the second coat. This will give a smooth finish to the nail color.

That's it! Done in just an hour!

You may follow these steps of pedicure once every week, along with regular cleansing and moisturizing. Your feet will look amazingly gorgeous! Have a happy feet!

Note: Even men can follow these tips for pedicure...Just that skip the last step! :D

How to wax at home?

This post is meant not only for women, but also for men. Everyone wants a silky smooth skin. I've seen so many people, both men and women, around me busy trying various techniques to rip away their body hair!

Epilators, hair-removing creams, shaving, waxing etc. etc. Some people even going for permanent hair removal treatments. Some of the other mentioned techniques are expensive, while others have a downside. I had tried all the techniques as a teenager, except for permanent hair removal of course. But the results are temporary and didn't render a clean finish to the skin. Finally I think waxing is the best thing among the all.

I find epilators very painful. Depilatory creams cause skin irritations, they cause your skin to darken, they stink. I puked every time I used it because of it dirty chemical smell. They work only on surface-level hair only, and not on the roots. You can still see black dots on the skin, of the hair shafts.
Shaving too darkens your skin, and the hair growth later on is bushy and rough, accelerated too!
Laser hair-removal is expensive.Also I have heard about several incidents of the procedure going wrong, like burning of the skin.

I have witnessed my cousins undergoing waxing sessions at beauty-parlors in 15 minutes flat. The beauticians did it so fast that she didn't get time to say 'Ouch' and breath the pain out when her hair were being ripped. I can't imagine getting my arms waxed by a beautician. I may have a phobia for it. How hot the wax would be, or hard would she pull away the strip are the questions that haunt my mind. Then my Aunt taught me how to wax at home.

And trust me, its way easier than you think. Its not at all messy. It was time consuming initially, but after some practice I too started doing it quickly enough. First time it tool me 2 hours to wax my arms. Now its just 30 minutes, and as per my convenience. I've been doing it since last 4 years. No haste, take your own time and relax. And it fun time for girls to sit and rip each others' hair and gossip! :D Also its way cheaper than getting it done at a beauty parlor. After enough practice you should be able to wax your own hands and legs...and err...whatever you want..And also wax others' hands, legs, etc.!

Waxing works well when the length of the hair is at least 1/4th - 1/2 of an inch. If longer, the procedure will be more painful. You must trim down your hair a bit...You know what I'm talking about....Good!

Wax once and your are good for at least 4 weeks. And as you wax often, your hair growth will be thinner and slower.

Also you may find it painful, but after a couple of times of waxing you get used to it. And honestly, I don't feel much pain, so no question of getting used to the pain. I know how much hot wax and pulling is bearable for me. Also if at all it hurts I have plenty of time to shout out my pain! :p

So this is what you would need.

A] Apparatus.

All that I need....*sing-a-song* :p

1. A hot-wax tin.

2. A pack of disposable hair removal strips.

3. Wax heater.

4. A spatula to apply wax, stainless steel or wooden, anyone will do.

B] Note.

You may heat the wax in a microwave using a microwave safe bowl, or directly on the stove too. But I don't like to take such things into my kitchen, so I use a wax heater.

Prefer to set up your hair-removal lab in a corner of the room, so as not to mess up the entire place. Sit on the floor, preferably not the carpeted one, tiled one would be good, and easy to clean up later one. Put down a sheet of an old newspaper. Keep all your apparatus on it. Also the used strips later on.

Post waxing, you  may notice red bumps on your skin, which is perfectly normal. They would disappear by the next day..or may be in a few hours. If not, consult you physician.

C] Procedure.

Prepare your skin. Wipe it with a clean wet cloth and then dry it nice with another dry cloth. Make sure your skin and all the apparatus is dry.

Wax + water = Disaster!

Also, 2 important things to remember.

1. Apply wax in the direction of hair growth.

2. Pull the strip in the direction opposite to that of the hair growth.

Then apply some talcum powder. This is said to render smoothness and helps the wax to spread easily. However, I don't find it to be useful at all. So I skip this step. You may try to follow or skip this step. You too must experiment....no???

Just heat it!

Then scoop out some wax with the help of the spatula and put it into the wax-heater. You may also use a spoon for this. Switch it on and let the wax melt nicely. Stir occasionally. It will look thin and golden. This may take 7-8 minutes. In microwave it may take around 1 to 1.5 minutes.

1 2 3... Temperature Check! 

Then take a little wax  on the spatula and check for the temperature by touching it with your fingertip. If its too hot, wash your fingertip immediately. You have to take care not to burn your skin. The wax should not be cold either, it would thicken and won't spread on your skin nicely. It should be warm enough.

When it has reached the right temperature, apply a thin layer wax with the spatula onto your skin. Apply it in the direction of the hair growth. For example, if the hair grow downwards, apply the wax in the downward direction. Apply on a smaller area at first.

Put the hair remover strip on to the wax, press it against the skin, rub it up and down 3-4 times, hold your skin taut and pull! OUCH! (Optional) :p

Pull it in the opposite direction. If the hair grow downwards and you apply the wax downwards, you need to pull the strip in the upward direction. If tiny hair have not come out, do not repeat the procedure. These tiny hair can be removed by threading or tweezing later on.

Repeat the procedure for rest of the part. Then wipe it clean with a soft wet cloth or take a bath. Apply baby oil or moisturizer. Done!

The result!  :D  Nice na???

Enjoy a perfect silky smooth skin!

And yes, don't forget to clean up! Wrap the used strips in that newspaper and throw it in the dustbin. Wash the spatula with antiseptic solution and water. Dry it and keep it in a clean place. Pack the wax tin properly, keep it in a dark and dry place. Clean the wax heater with water. Be careful, not to wet the machine inside. Do not clean under a running tap. Dry it. Keep it safe.