Whats in a birthday?

This is what I asked myself on my birthday this year.

Birthdays used to be sooo exciting years ago. Hey, I never used to sleep the previous night! There was no blowing of candles, no cutting of cakes. There were no balloons or ribbons in the house and nobody was invited for a party. There were not even flowers or gifts! But still there was more that enough reason for excitement.. new dress, chocolates and greeting cards! :)

A week before my birthday, I used to calculate and re-calculate how many chocolates I needed. Strength of the class + atleast 5 chocs each for my best buddies + principal + all teachers + few friends from other divisions + bus mates + bus driver + cleaner + relatives + neighbours + .. The list went on. My mom would somehow convince me on cutting short the list. The next discussion was on which chocolate to buy. After all the arguments, the chocolates would arrive. I would get them all out of the packet.. on to the floor. And then the counting began! I would get them into separate boxes.. One for bus.. One for class.. One for teachers.. Phew.. And go to sleep late at night to end up not sleeping at all!

But I wouldn't be a bit tired the next day. Would trot around proudly with my new dress. I would smile at all the blue-n-white uniforms around. I was the star of the day! Would sit in class, full of excitement, and when the teacher walked in, would go to her with this box. And then the whole class got up and sang 'Happy Birthday To you....' Oh, how wonderful it felt.

But whatever I say, I did feel special even on this birthday with all the wishes from my loved ones. Thanks a lot for them. You made my day!

When it got sunny..

The last weekend was the warmest weekend of the year in UK! The temperature touched 30C in London!! We'll give a 'So?' as a response, but people here may almost faint.. So, this is what happened that weekend..

We lazy bums(Yeah, I am slowly graduating into one) did not even get out of the house. But we had the window open and on the warm Saturday noon, I sat by the window gazing at the small green park below. There were small kids in swimsuits. Why swimsuits, I thought. Maybe to get more of the sun, I guessed. But no.. The action had not yet started. All of them suddenly rushed to their homes on all four sides of the park. Whats happening? It was suspense time for me. Then, there came the first one.. a short n stout boy holding a pail of water.. Whats going on?? Then came two girls with two inflated baths.. a small one and a big one. Now I was getting the picture and that got me all hooked up. This boy poured his first bucket of water into the bath.. Then came out all the little darlings.. with how much ever water they could carry.. One in a milk can.. Another in a mug and a teeny weeny girl, in a glass!!! Yes she made some 10 trips home and back, slowly tiptoeing, carrying water in a glass!! I really felt like helping them.. But then I thought, they were enjoying every bit of what they were doing..



I guess this snap gives you a picture of my view from the window.. ;)

After lots of trips to and from their homes.. with water carriers of different shapes and sizes, their baths were nowhere near full. Its then that the parents decided to help them. And guess what.. They fitted a hosepipe for them into the park. Hurraay!



As you can see, things were quite easy now.. They thanked their parents by spraying water all over them with the hose. And started filling their baths too.. And yes as the baths got full, they were very impatient.. And so was I.. And finally.. Bloooom!!



And I wished, I could dive from my window and fall into that bath too.. ;)

Dedicated to my girlfriends..

Now, before you say a 'WHAAAAT?', the girlfriend here means a female friend and nothing more.

As I was 'timepassing' yesterday(as usual), I came to know that yesterday(Aug-1) was girlfriend's day. Oh, was there a day like that? I tried to find out what one was supposed to do on this day.. Guys giving gifts to their girlfriends? Not that they need a special-day to do that.. But still, one day dedicated for gifts is not a bad idea, either. ;) But I found that it was a much more girly affair.. And the next minute, I sent an e-card wishing all my girlfriends..

As I was doing that, I realised that I was blessed with great girlfriends. I remembered the times I spent with each of them.. The fun times.. The fight times.. The senti times.. Now, as I sit miles away from them and type this, I know what exactly I am missing. I have quarreled with them, but the bond only got better every time..
I look back and see that they have been with me at every step of my life..
They have warned me when I walked on dangerous paths.. and when I didn't listen.. They just walked along holding my hand..
They laughed with me.. cried with me.. They were with me, all the time..




Girlfriend's day or not, I wish you all deep from my heart,
Thankyou for being my friend!!

TGIS!

.. That was not a typo.. I meant 'Thank God, Its Sunday' and this is precisely what I felt as this weekend ended.

I don't think many people will be able to understand what bothers me, because these things probably bother me alone! Crazy me.. Poor me.. Anyways, this is how my weekend went..

Friday evening.. Its 7.. I reach home.. Our house is the 'get-together' place.. So, roomies and friends are all there.. We chat.. Its 8.. We think of dinner.. "Shall we go out?" Some say Yes, some say No.. Nobody listens.. We chat again.. Its 9. Okay, we'll have dinner at home. But no rice.. Sad! We chat.. Its 9:30.. The shop closes at 10. Emergency!! Two people rush to buy rice.. Its 10.. We start cooking.. Its 11.. We eat. Okay, now we'll play cards. Sorry, I am an early to bed.. early to rise person. But I feel that I shouldn't act like a spoilsport at least on weekends and I agree to join.. Its 12.. Its 1.. We continue to play.. Its 2.. Its 3.. We sleep..

Saturday morning, 7 am.. I wake up.. Curse myself and try to sleep again. Twist and turn and think and somehow manage to be in bed till 9. Phew.. Not bad..

I get up. There are people sleeping all over the place! Shh.. I should not wake them up.. So I do everything very quietly.. Its 10.. I have tea.. Its 11.. I have bread&jam.. No, can't cook anything else. I'll end up making a lot of noise. Its 12.. I am getting bored to death! Its 1.. Oh, somebody has woken up. Relief!! And then one by one.. one by one.. We chat.. Its 2.. We chat.. Its 3.. They decide to make upma. Its 4.. We have upma.. This is breakfast for them.. Lunch for me.. but actually, the time for tea?? Err.. I am lost.. Guess that's an unnecessary worry..

The kitchen is strewn with soiled dishes.. The house is like a dorm with people still sleeping.. There are duvets(a soft quilt which is used as a thick blanket) everywhere.. on the floor.. sofa.. beds.. You can never be sure if a person is sleeping beneath that.. Its 6.. Somebody says, "Lets go for a movie!" Somebody suggests the movie.. "Transformers!!" Brilliant idea.. Okay we have shows at 7:30 pm, 8:30 pm, 9:30 pm, 10:30 pm. Decided! The 7:30 show.. Lets cook dinner first. Chicken!! Mmm...Wow! We chat.. Its 7:00.. We move to the kitchen.. One cuts, another re-cuts. "Hey, we cannot make it to the 7:30 show.. We'll go at 8:30." No issues.. One small kitchen. Many many cooks.. One making chicken.. One making rasam.. Its 8:30.. One making bhaingan bhartha.. One making raitha.. Its 9:00.. One making rice.. Its 9:30.. We have dinner.. It was yummyy.. Its 10:00.. We run.. Pant! Pant! Gasp! Gasp! But surprise!!! We reach in time for the 10:30 show!!

Reach back home at 1:30. We start playing cards.. The saga continues..

At the end of Sunday.. I feel sick beacuse I know I have not had proper food at proper time.. I feel sleep deprived.. I feel guiddy when I see the kitchen and the house.. I feel extremely guilty for having spent my time most uselessly.. But then I give a long sigh and say, TGIS! Atleast I can spend the whole week getting the house back into shape.. sleeping well, getting fresh and be prepared for the next weekend..

A part of history..

The place: British Telecom Office, Adastral Park, Martlesham Heath, Ipswich, UK
Okay, a brief description about Adastral Park. It is the BT campus extending over 110 acres in Martlesham Heath.

Time: 1:00 pm. We were having lunch with the usual share of gossip and masti.

Topic of discussion: Bombscare in Martlesham!

K: Arey yahaan ke log bhi na! Ek pipe ko dekh ke ghabraa gaye!
A: Haan bhey.. Do ghante road block kiyan in logon ne..
Me: But you can't blame them! There are lots of bombs around these days. They are only being careful..
K: Koi aisi waisi bomb nahin.. World War II ka bomb samjha in logon ne..
S: Nothing surprising in that.. This area was once very much involved in World War II
A: Yes, thats right. Our campus was once an airbase.. Haven't you seen the photos in our food-court?
Me: Oh, really? Thats interesting..

I then get back to my desk and do some googling.. And am pretty much impressed with what I find!

Initially, an experimental airfield was opened in Martlesham Heath. After the end of World War I it was renamed as the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) of the Royal Air Force.

At the outbreak of the Second World War, the A&AEE was removed to another site owing to the proximity of Martlesham Heath to the East Coast and its vulnerability to enemy attack. The airfield then took on a new role as a base for fighter squadrons defending Britain!!

At the end of hostilities, there was no longer a role for Martlesham Heath as an operational RAF airfield and no prospect of the A&AEE returning, but the site was again used for a number of experiments with planes and armaments. However, its use declined in the 1950s, and the airfield was closed in the early 1960s.

In 1968, the Post Office purchased part of the airfield and surrounding farmland and announced that they would be relocating their Research Department to Martlesham Heath. Then the separation of British Telecom from the Post Office and the privatisation of British Telcommunications plc happened. In the 1980s, the facility was renamed as BT Labs and was subsequently developed into a high tech business park called Adastral Park in the 1990s.

Courtesy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martlesham_Heath

Quite a happening place, this was!! Let me see what I can dig out from here before I come back!

See the world upside down!

I have always had this BIG appetite for adventure rides..

Years ago, when small exhibitions were put up in our town, I used to crave to be there for mainly two things.. The 'Giant Wheel' and the 'Chilly Bajji's'. (But the bajji's after the ride, please. Hee Hee.. )
I loved the feeling of getting to the top and then coming down in a Zzzing.. Ooooh.. How I screamed out in excitement! Those days are gone.. Now its the days of amusement parks.. I love the Veega Land of Cochin and even more, the Wonderla of Bangalore. Luckily, I got to go to The Pleasure Beach in Blackpool this Saturday. What more do I say? Yeah, I saw my world upside down and it was extremely exciting to see it that way!

I'll put up the videos of two of the many exciting rides that I loved..

Infusion


Bling


Howzzat?? Tempting, is it not?

I wait..

One day, I find a thousand reasons to smile..

Oh, the lovely blue of the sky,
The birds never sang sweeter, oh my!
The greenest grass strewn with the whitest blooms
Is this the world I always see in my dreams?

The wind is blowing my hair on my face
A stranger passes by, giving a pleasant gaze
The whole world looks happy today..
I begin to hum in joy, what a lovely day!

The next day, everything looks wrong..

The clouds are dark, with no hint of silver
It pours down heavily.. I start to shiver
No birds, no songs, not even a butterfly!
Just a scary cat giving a gloomy cry..

The wind looks fierce, it knocked my hat
Tears rolled out.. Got lost in the rain
Not a soul around, to lend me a smile..
I cry out loud, how I hate this world!

But I know, tomorrow is not going to be the same
And then I wait for another lovely day..