Unforgettable Shepherd

It is shocking to hear the news of David Robert Shepherd's demise. He died exactly 2 months before he would turn 69. He is one umpire who can never be hated. He was one of the most fairest-minded umpires that, he turned down the opportunity to maintain ICC's neutral umpiring policy in Test matches when he was offered to umpire the England Test at Lords as his final test. As a good umpire he gave both right decisions and earned respect and trust among the players. His eccentricities too can never be forgotten. The way he used to hop at the score 111(111- considered Unlucky Nelson among British) or its multiple. And what was even more whimsical was that, he continued to hop until the score crossed 111 or its multiple. Alas! it wasn't 111. It was 68 at which misfortune struck his life.

Umpires like Shepherd are just irreplaceable. May his soul rest in peace.

Injection

My nearly 3 year old nephew had to be given flu-shot. He is such hyper-active kid that, one will lose oodles of weight running behind him :)... I had accompanied my co-sister and nephew to the health-care center to hold him tightly while he was given the injection. Believe it or not! I still fear taking an injection :P... My innocent nephew had no clue about the flu-shot. He was active, happy, playful as always he is. He was made to believe that, his mom had to see doctor. The nurse held his legs and my co-sister and I held his hands and saw to it that he lied down properly. My cute nephew was for a moment confused as what was happening to him. Then as fast as blink of an eye, the nurse injected syringe and he was unmanageable. He started crying so loudly that, the nurse should have felt guilty of hurting him... All he said was - Aunty hurt me (in Kannada - aunty chuchbittru)... He continued to cry for another 5-10 minutes. In next few minutes, he had forgotton about it and was as usual the cheerful Anirudh :)

Resolution

I have always been blamed by my parents, brother, husband, and friends for my shrewd temper. I am never able to control my temper. This is something I should fight. Off late, I have myself felt the need to check my temper. The funniest thing is if my mom says me to be calm and not get excited over small issues, I get excited again! But is it really good? Obviously not good for health. But above all, I have realized the after-effects of short-tempered nature. I don't think I gain anything juggling over small issues. Given a situation, it is better to calm down, relax, think and then react rather than uttering something in haste and later regretting over having done so. I have been wondering about this for quite sometime. It is high time I calmed down. I have resovled to change myself. Better late than never :)

Few Deepavali pics

An evening in Kabul

On a rainy night, my husband and I decided to dine out. After trying almost all Indian restaurants in our locality, we decided to try Afghani cuisine. The novel Kite Runner had influenced me to such an extent that, I was desperate to try Afghani food. We went a place called Kabul which proudly displayed a few cut-outs from newspapers which had written abt the restaurant.

To our dismay, the restaurant offered less options for vegetarians!. We decided to order some spinach based curry with challow(that is what they call rice, chaval) and a vegetarian platter which was again served with challow and a glass of juice. With the main-course was served Afghani bread. The restaurant offered a great ambience with some light music. We waited for nearly 10-15 minutes for the waiter to take our order. Nobody seemed to notice our presence. I tried to brushed aside all those negative thoughts that were bothering me - are they deliberately avoiding us since we are Indians? - or do they care for only American customers and neglect people from sub-continent? etc. Instead of letting my mind further ponder over such negative thoughts, I decided to take a glance at the walls of the restaurant. The walls were pleasantly decorated with some famous pictures of Afghan sea-green eyed girl and another of a bearded man. To my surprise there were some Afghani costumes hung on the wall behind me. It looked like some cotton fabric with the zari, golden border, and old tabla. Finally, a French-bearded guy, politely took our order. We were offered salad, a sub-dish which is served as a complimentary dish to every customer. The salad was so delicious that, I wondered whether I could request for another plate :)

We found the Afghani food very different from Indian food. I somewhat disliked the food though I had initially insisted to go to an Afghani restaurant. I could clean half the plate of challow. Though I didn't like the curry much, I liked the challow which was different from our chaval... :). Afghani bread was quite good which was similar to Indian masala bun. My husband had no complaints!!! In fact, he requested for some boxes to pack the food. But the best was yet to come. The saunf which is a common item placed at the exit doors in the Indian restaurants was absent. In its place was a box of colored pieces of mint, which were similar to the polo mint. I grabbed a few pieces which were just irresistible :).

While coming back, my mind was overflowing with numerous thoughts - The Kite Runner, its characters, the restaurant, food, and the rain which had almost abated by the time we were done with the special dinner.

Rain

It has been raining since last night. I stepped out to the balcony to click few pictures of the apartment complex. Awesome would be an understatement to describe the weather. The bulbs are still on in the apartments at 12 noon. Hot-spicy samosas would best suit the cold windy rainy weather.

Small cravings

I feel it is common among we, the humans to crave for something or the other. It is normal for one to do so. It is common to say - I wish, I were like that, I had this, etc. Sometimes we crave so much for certain things though we know we can't obtain them. I am sure all of you would have craved for somethings in life. Or you may be craving even today for some or the other thing. You must have dreamt a lot about it. But not always do our dreams come true. You are sometimes sure, that you can't obtain it. Still, you are reluctant to give up your hopes!!

A musical evening with a pleasant surprise

We had been to a music concert at a nearby temple. The performing artist was from Bangalore, Sri Shashidhar Kote. I had decided to attend the concert till the end, regardless of when it ended. It has perhaps for 2 reasons - My husband and I are fans of Indian music, especially when such divine artists are performing, we wouldn't want to miss. Another reason, I have fond memories of going to Kote uncle's house as a 13 year old girl. I had received some dance tips from his wife Seeta who is now a popular face in ETV soaps. Infact, she had taught me the steps for some of Kote's songs too :).

I was eagerly waiting to meet Kote uncle ever since he came to US. However I had never been able to attend any of his concerts all these days. And as soon as I got to know about his concert last evening through my relative, thanks to her, we decided to go!. Kote uncle performed with the same ardor as he used to a decade ago. The audience too persuaded him to continue beyond the schedule. That explains how audience were bowled out by his performance.

Now, the most interesting part of the program. As soon as it ended, I went to talk to him. Since it was more that a decade that, I was meeting him in person, I thought of all possible things, relations and even the songs which his wife had taught me to introduce myself. Kote uncle as modest as always he is, spoke with me when I went up to him. To my surprise, with little introduction he could remember me. I was humbled by the artist's memory. I was just any other ordinary girl who used to go to his house for some dance tips.. a decade ago. And he still remembered me :). He even introduced me to his brother and few people there. He was also overwhelmed to see me there!!!. It was my biggest surprise.

The music concert had already made me high and then with uncle remembering me, I was totally on cloud nine!!!