I've seen it all

Amazing amazing track. From a movie called Dancer in the Dark.

Bjork acts in the movie, and this song features Thom Yorke (from Radiohead.)

Couchsurfing! Day 1

Thanks to PS for his enthusiastic ranting about couchsurfing, I signed up a week ago and pretty much at once received my first request to host  - a Portuguese woman traveling in India for 2 months, and visiting Hyderabad, requested to be hosted for 2 nights.

With my flatmates away in Goa for the week, and the house to myself, how could I say no?

Filipa arrived Tuesday morning, and after a couple of hours of resting and talking and freshening up, I set her up and ready for a day of sight seeing. Armed with my trusty map of Hyderabad, a list of places to visit in the vicinity of the Charminar area, and vague but hopefully helpful instructions to survive in the city, I saw her board a local train heading to Nampally from Begumpet railway station and went back home to cater to my aching stomach and awaited the arrival of a friend visiting from Bombay. The Shammi himself.

I had some errands to run, and when I came back home, both my guests were home, sitting at the table, talking and chilling. I barged into the conversation - Filipa's day, some talk about yoga, and many, many travel stories.

Something that amused us a lot was Filipa's experience with the local folk. They would usually stop her and directly ask - where are you from?

When she said - Portugal, they'd just scratch their heads, and walk away, not knowing how to take the questioning further.

Some, however, would go on to ask 

- Are you married? 

- No.

- How old are you? 

and then exclaim that she should hurry and get married.

She experimented once - saying 

- Yes, I'm married. 

- Do you have children?

- No.

- Then why did you get married anyway?

No words.

While talkingnit started lightening and a fabulous thunderstorm began. The electricity went off. We sat on my 5th storey balcony, with the nice view, and looked over the sky, exclaiming and excited with the fierce cracks lighting up the sky and thundering down at us.

This went on for a bit, and then Filipa softly said that this was by far the most thunder and lightening she had ever seen in her life. 

It stopped in a couple of hours, and then we went out to dinner to my favourite take-my-guests-to restaurant - Angeethi. Filipa tried the risky jaljeera, and I picked us some great veg food. Shammi was trying to explain to Filipa who Amitabh Bachchan was, and translated the names of the many movie posters on the walls.

Roti, Kapda aur Makaan - food, clothing and shelter

Sharabi - Drunkard

Khoon Paseena - blood and sweat

and my favourite

Kaala Paththar - Black Stone.

Very filling dinner, and then Filipa exclaimed that the mouth freshener that most indian restaurants provide with the bill, saunf, is terrible. I added yes, it does taste like soap, and popped some in my mouth, while Filipa maintained the expression of how-can-you-eat-that-thing on her face. 

Then home and called it a night, with an agreement to laze in late the next morning, and the plan of action being limited to visiting the Hussain Sagar.

Peace

"When you do not know how to keep your body peaceful, when you do not know how to keep your mind peaceful, when you do not know how to keep your energies peaceful, world peace is just a joke."

_ Sadhguru

He conveys so easily something that is so strong, and will knock you on the head and make you wonder. 

Intimately Detached

holding hands

touching fingertips

tousling hair

letting be.

something intimate 

and special

natural

and free.

talking

telling

letting be.

rubbing noses

tickling toes

blowing kisses

saying bye

see you soon.

Half a dozen reasons

to celebrate:

1. My first ever couchsurfing guest is here. From Portugal. With a big yellow bag. 

2. It rained last night, the sky is pink and clean and fresh.. and it's a bit cool - I'm holding my breath and hoping it lasts.

3. I have two days off - today and tomorrow - I had worked the weekend, and my weekend is today.

4. I have a friend visiting from Bombay.

5. My big fat package from Lush is expected to arrive in 48 hours.

6. I have an earworm that I'm loving - Billy Joel's Piano Man, and I sing it very loudly. (which may or may not mean I sing it well.)

7. My flatmates are out of town, so we have the house to ourselves. 

Bonus reason to celebrate: My orange hair is looking fabulous now, I think. 

Definition: (wikipedia)

Earworm - is a term for a portion of a song or other musical material that repeats compulsively within one's mind, known colloquially as "music being stuck in one's head."

Yipes, they also say: Medications that are used to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder or anxiety can alleviate the symptoms of earworms.

Son can you play me a memory.. I'm not really sure how it goes...

but its sad and its sweet, and I knew it complete,

when I wore a young man's clothes...

Preview. Do View.

 

10

I'm not sure that I'm really going to finish doing this... I'm sleepy. We was tagged by the Shuunya man.

Have to do something like this.

1 is the number of DSLRs I have lost. Yes. 

2 is the number of times I've coloured my hair red. (= orange sometime later.)

3 is the number of coconut waters I would like to consume in a day. 

4 is the number of times I have been to the Isha Yoga Center.

5 is the number of apartments I've shifted to in Hyderabad.

6 is the number of blogs I write to. (write on, write for?)

7 is the number of songs I can play on the guitar.

8 is the number of children my baby sister said she wanted to have (when she was 6 years old).

9 is the number of  tattoos I would not want to have.

10 is the number of puppies my doggie had had. (Dobermen puppies. Beauties.)

Not tagging anyone, am horrid with them myself.

PS: I wanted to title this post Dix. Which means ten in french. However...

Pranav Shah

Meet Pranav Shah. The guy with the funny hair, as he is also known. Or used to be known. Sadly, the lovely tresses have been shed, and a funky short crop of curls now rest on his head.

The hair is legendary. (Legend says that one fellow on a cycle was so taken aback by the sight of Pranav on the street once, that he crashed into a tree and fell down.) (Pranav recollects laughing his heart out on that occasion.) (Pranav is funny, he will make you laugh.)

Anyway. I dunno why I'm writing this post actually. My new favourite hobby is making portrait photos (if I told you the details of what kind of portraits, you wont believe me and think its April fool's joke, so I'll leave it at that.) Does seem like I want to make written portraits too...

Pranav is co-founder of India Daily Photo with me (I still like to take 100% credit, but I'm feeling generous on Fool's day.)

Pranav was in the same college as me. And we became friends when he came to me with a detailed plan and suggested that we make a business of pirated DVDs. (Which we didn't, eventually, just for the record.)

Pranav is one person who I would imagine is capable of doing things that most people would find either impossible or ludicrous, or pointless, and he'd do it with style.

Pranav's enthusiasm and appetite for knowing things is extremely contagious. 

Ok, I'll end this essay here. Hi PS. 

(Photo courtesy a Googler from the bike ride to Sri Sailem. Yash?)

Happy Fool's Day!

I always fall in double in love with Google on April 1st. 

http://www.google.com/intl/en/landing/chrome/cadie/