"If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies" :)

"Let it snow!"

I never thought that my stay in this part of the world would be this short...........I did not come down with plans to settle down here but this has to be the shortest-lived home for me ever.........About a year back we came to the snow-laden, bone-chilling Midwest, to an unassuming town that I had not heard of before. My biggest excitement was that it was close enough to Chicago to be able to visit my childhood friend on weekends, and the fact that our brand new jobs would enable us to afford small luxuries that our student pay-checks could not. On the professional front, I was ready to enjoy any work that came my way.......I had my initial share of hiccups and disappointments but eventually I think I can say that it all came around. I did learn some, if not as much as I wanted to.........Life outside work was even more fun :) Every little flicker of change that changing seasons brought lifted my spirits.......some of the friendships I forged here will last me a lifetime, if not longer........and the trips we made to some far-flung corners and others next door are still fresh in my mind.........I just went through the entire gamut of images I have amassed here.......am sharing a precious few......before I move on to the new place for newer adventures in a coupla weeks.

"March into spring"

"Wild Summer"

"A taste of summer"

"The evening air was warm, the northeast wind soft"

"Catch a whiff of fall in the air"

"Nature’s own fireworks"

"Back to where it all started from" :)

Step by step .....

.........it's been eight beautiful, fun-filled years of togetherness. Thanks for being around, ALWAYS :)

Until we meet again.

This one's for a friend who left for a home way too far, way too soon.

"Shapes and silhouettes lie within it's design
This pure simple fluff that floats on by
and the wind will carry it on it's way
perhaps... it'll come back someday"

Happy moi :)

You know a perfect day when you see it! I woke up to one today :) The first day of the season when you know that the lazy, hazy, scorching days of summer are on their way out. We're poised between two seasons: an effortless segue from summer's heat to fall's lingering warmth. Suddenly my pics don't seem washed out in Florida's sun. It must have been Florida's sun that U2 were referring to when they sang "The sun so bright it leaves no shadows". But today colors looked softer even from behind the lens. I know I am gushing like a fool now but I haven't stopped smiling since I woke up and smelled from my porch, the scent of dry grass filling the air.

Sunlight filtering through the leaves of the trees on a soft evening. Not your typical fall pic but then Fall comes ever so silently in these parts :) Enjoy the days getting shorter as you kiss the last days of summer good-bye :)

It takes two :)

That's yours truly in her married name glory (so much for the anonymity on blogdom!!!), that is if she changes her maiden name, which she hasn't. One look at the ginormous last name, and you'd know why!!! :DD

But this is not what I set out to write about. Remember the Indo-Irish wedding I talked about a few weeks back?? This one's from the wedding. The place cards carried the pic of the couple doing what they like the most: cycling. These guys amaze moi. After their graduation from Berkeley, California, they got jobs in Washington DC and instead of flying to DC, they decided to cycle all the way ....from one coast to another ..that's like 3000 miles (a little less than 5000 km). It's like biking across the breadth of a continent. Reminds me of one of my all-time favorite movies, "The Motorcycle Diaries". Nothing like seeing one's own country this way, eh!!! :)

Happy as a lark :)

Ever had a day when all forces of nature (including that indispensable, precious person in your life) come together to create a perfect day for you??? Yesterday was one of those days :)

A quiet evening by the beach, followed by rains that make my heart sing...coupled with calls from friends and family who are now scattered across the world but remembered to make the day special for moi.......It was a beautiful day. And thanks to all of you who dropped by to extend your wishes. Have a great weekend, all :)

To an older (and wiser) moi ;)

A little self-indulgence on one's own b'day is acceptable, I guess!!! :)

Happy Couple

From Detroit, it was go Columbus! The wedding was yet another highlight of the trip. For long, I have been looking forward to meet this absolutely fine family from my husband's side. And being a total sucker for beautiful love stories, I would not have missed this wedding at any cost.

Here's the happy couple for you. Their delicious smiles touched every heart, I am sure and as I keep reiterating, I love inter-racial marriages for they speak of love amidst the prejudices that mangle the world :)

And here's Daddy's not-so-little girl with the first man in her life:)

Anne Frank - (1929-1945)

If she were alive, she'd be celebrating her 78th birthday today. Annelies Marie "Anne" Frank (born : 12 June 1929) died of typhus in Bergen-Belsen Concentration camp at age 15 in March 1945.

We were in Amsterdam last winter and the hiding place of Franks, now recognized by a sign that reads simply "Anne Frank Huis", was one of the places we could not stop ourselves from visiting though we were "officially" on honeymoon in Holland. Being there was like re-living the pages from her diary again. The secret attic, the bookcase that covered the door to it, her life in hiding all came alive and so did the questions. All through, I kept wondering what my life was like at 15. And all I could remember was a cocooned childhood, still nursing the first crush of teenage, petty jealousies amongst girlfriends, sibling rivalries.................Guess, so would have been hers, had the world let it be.

The pages of her diary are replete with such girlie delights:

and a wisdom that belies her age:

"It's really a wonder that I haven't dropped all my ideals because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet, I keep them, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can't build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery, and death. I see the world gradually being turned into a wilderness, I hear the ever-approaching thunder, which will destroy us too, I can feel the sufferings of millions and yet, if I look up into the heavens, I think that it will all come right, that this cruelty too will end, and that peace and tranquility will return again.....I must uphold my ideals, for perhaps the time will come when I shall be able to carry them out." - Anne Frank

Shot at Amsterdam

"I'm just a wayward traveller.......

..........trying' to find his way home" - Phil Cerasoli

"......If I stagger and wander, come to my help. You are also human beings and you are also going home"

Leo Tolstoy

PS: It was shot right outside the back door of the church where the young artists sat sketching the interiors.

Of Superstitions..............

This one's been with moi for a coupla months now and it still cracks me up every time I see it in my collection. This feller was standing tall next to my home in Bangalore atop a new house being constructed. I am not sure if this happens in other parts of the world, but every new house being built in India sports one to "ward off any evil" that might potentially sabotage the builders' best laid plans, architecturally or otherwise :) The idea is that anything new attracts the attention of the evil eye and hence an ugly mask will prevent the new house catching the attention of the Devil.....I'm one to cock a snook at superstitions but the creativity of this one amuses moi. Note how the paint-can is casually thrown in to draw the face. What's the superstition from your part of the world that you find fascinating???

UPDATE : Nasten'ka left these beautiful lines behind, from TS Eliot, under Comments section...

"We are the hollow men

We are the stuffed men

Leaning together

Headpiece filled with straw................"

Tic, Tac, Toe ;)

Love's in the air????? :D

From the bride-to-be :)

.........."Home,

now n forever,

will always be

wherever

I can be with you."

So Long, freedom ;

Hello, married life.........:)

Christmas is the day we choose to tie the knot .........am flying back home (India) to be a part of my big fat Indian wedding (pardon the cliche' :D). Am so looking fwd to be fussed over as a bride deserves to be :).............the blog shall take a backseat for sometime now as I start a new, beautiful chapter in my life :)

'Tis the season to be jolly!!!!!

Wish you all a wonderful Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Eid....................and a splendid year ahead. Take care, stay safe and warm :)

The Pic here shows multi-hued Indian bangles, shot at a local "bazaar" in India.

For a change,

............(no puns intended here)...the photo-blog of mine has no pic on but a message on behalf of a friend and his sis who are running a marathon this Oct 22nd, in Chicago. They have pledged to raise funds to support a few meaningful causes, close to their heart, in India. The sis-bro duo look foward to sponsors to help them make a difference in the lives of children and communities they are running for. Have a look at their webpage And don't forget: every li'l help counts!!! :) Have a great week, all!!! :)

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We all live under the same big sky.......

...............don't we????? It might look different from ur part of the planet......but its the same roof above us. Is there a bigger truth????????

Lest we forget!!!

....................Inspite of what the advertising/marketing poseurs selling dreams would want us to believe! Does it remind anyone of Fugazi's anthem........... ".......Merchandise keeps us in line, Common sense says it's by design What cud a businessman ever want more Than to have us sucking in his store??? We owe you nothing You have no control.... You are not what you own!!!................"