Boobs Without Borders

Read this damn interesting piece by Dianne Sharma-Winter.

Please Infect Me!

Smiling is infectious;

you catch it like the flu,

When someone smiled at me today,

I started smiling, too.

I passed around the corner and

someone saw my grin

When he smiled I realized I'd

passed it on to him.

I thought about that smile and

then I realized its worth,

A single smile, just like mine,

could travel round the earth.

So if you feel a smile begin,

don't try to contain it,

Let's start an epidemic, quick,

and get the world infected!

-- The Speaking Tree, April 11, 2010

Taala (The Lock)

Some times, some things affect you in a way you would have never thought of. And they occur out of sheer randomness -- out of the blue! That's exactly how I came across this beautiful poem, pasted inside a bus in Mumbai, in Sept'08. I couldn't help but jot it down. Read on.
--

ताला

आती है गौरय्या
और दरवाज़े के लटकते ताले पर
मारती है ठोर

कुत्ता आता है
खोलने की कोशिश में
ताबड़-तोड़ पटकता है पांव

दौड़ती हुई आती है गाय
और ज़ोर-ज़ोर से हंकरने लगती है

सोच नहीं पाता है डाकिया
किसको दे वह चिट्ठी
ताला
कई दिनों से लटका है यहाँ

पुरबईया और पछुआ हवा के झोंके
हिला नहीं पाते हैं ताले को
कितना भारी हो गया है
यह ताला

कितना अखरता है एक व्यक्ति का न होना

-- कुमार वीरेन्द्र

Amrut Fusion

Amrut Fusion Single Malt whisky -- This made-in-Bangalore single malt was crowned the third finest whisky in the world by renowned British whisky writer Jim Murray in his Whisky Bible 2010, six years after it was launched at The Pot Still, a popular bar in Glasgow, Scotland, the mecca of whisky makers. It began retailing in India last month.

Single malt whisky makes up the premium end of the global whisky market, like Cognac in brandy. Single malt is distinguished as whisky made from barley and processed at a single distillery as opposed to the more mass-market, blended whiskies—such as Johnnie Walker and Chivas Regal—which are a mix of different types of whiskies often made from varied grains.

Amrut moved ahead of the times in the 1980s. Unlike its peers, who turned molasses into whisky, Amrut started procuring barley from farmers in Punjab and Rajasthan, in addition to molasses. This gave it a headstart in studying barley; 20 years of trial and error followed before the first single malt whisky hit the shelves in 2004. Uniquely, Amrut Fusion combines barley grown in Punjab with imported Scottish peated barley. The two barleys are mashed, fermented with yeast, distilled in pot stills and matured in carefully chosen oak casks for four years. The two matured malts are fused in measured proportions and married for three months. Peated barley, or malted barley heated by firing peat in a kiln, gives the whisky a much desired, smoky character.

Well, I'd definitely try to lay my hands onto this spectacular Amrit, errr...  Amrut. Read more about it here.

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone

A poem, which I like very much, courtesy M R.

--

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

-- W. H. Auden

And I blog again!

1.5 years! Yes, it's been one and a half years that I last blogged. Well, it's finally time to reboot again. Finally, time to let go of all the laziness, procrastination and general blaah.

Welcome again! Let's begin.


Well, too much has happened over the course of past few months. I shall try to present a quick snapshot.

• An amazing 7-day trip to Mumbai, discovering the city in all its charm and grandeur.
• Mumbai blasts
• Got a new job -- another one of proud occasions of my life
• Travel
• Amritsar -- Golden Temple, Wagah border, Jallianwala Bagh, great food
• Rishikesh/Haridwar -- White water rafting, other adventure sports
• Lucknow -- A nawaabi experience -- food and the sights
• Farewell to the togetherness of 2 years with a hope to continue for a lifetime
• Joining the new job
• Travel
• Jamshedpur, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi, Jharia, Noamundi
• Finally posted to Delhi NCR -- Faridabad
• Work, job, excitement
• Many many ups & downs in personal life
• Tata Crucible Quiz -- Winner, Regional round; National finalist
• First stay at the Taj Palace Hotel, Colaba, Mumbai
• Bought my first car
• Travel
• Kochi, Thrissur, Alleppey, Bangalore, Goa
• First international trip -- Dubai

Phew! That's a very very brief summary of what all life has offered me since I last blogged and I'm sure I would have missed out many things.

My only wish is to continue this journey and I look forward to blogging more frequently and with a new zeal. Wish me luck!

P. S. -- Like the first time, this time as well, Maggi played a pivotal role in helping me blog. :)