We drove up to Jebel Hafeet :)

We drove up to Jebel Hafeet this weekend; here are some snippets :)

You can read more about Jebel Hafeet here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jebel_Hafeet

Viewing Al Ain from high up there :)

Breathtaking!

We loved it !

I rarely ever post travel pics on this blog but now on I will. Stay tuned!! Hope all of you are having a lovely October!

Shubh Deepavali !!

दीपाना दिपितम इती, पा अल्नेना पलितम,आयुर्दायाकम, वाल्नना अर्जितमलययोगेना ईप्सितम इती दीपावली

दीपावली प्रकाश्येता खलु सर्वं!!

The translation runs as:
May the Deepawali (Diwali) take the humanity towards Eternal Light! This light is the physical light created by the earthen Lamp, for seeing around, where I do exist. May it lead me to Eternal flame and to provide me meaningful Long life, the higher Yoga of Supreme realization and grant me the boon of Spiritual illumination!

All the phonemes of the word Deepawali have been explained in the Sanskrit Sloka. The first three lines are the sound structures of the term Deepawali, signifying the quintessence of the effulgence of the clay lamps ,The fourth line of the Shloka is prayer for all.

[Ref: http://sanskritvoice.com/2007/11/08/the-essense-of-deepavali/]

With this beautiful prayer, I hereby herald the beginning of Diwali this year :-) Today is the first day of Diwali and it's Dhanteras, the auspicious day that falls two days before Diwali, when Hindus buy gold/silver or anything to signify wealth/Lakshmi.

First things first though! Shopo Diwali fever is on and I have a secret little wish list :-) 

This one by Varnam stole my heart !! I'm in awe of the beautiful brocade design !!

And this one too from by Mish Mash Design!! The colour combination is so soothing on this one, and though this shade of blue may not be a festive colour, it sure wins my heart!

....and I save my most favourite one for the last

Could there be anything more beautiful than this lamp by The People's Project? It brings back precious memories of my times spent at my grandmother's home and it reminds me of the beautiful antique silver lamps she possessed and I secretly admired !!

Thank you Shopo and ColoursDekor for announcing this contest and I sure hope I am one of the lucky ones!! Shubh Deepavali to one and all !! :)

Being proud of who we are

In the end of September, we got back from a lovely week spent in Spain. I loved everything about that country; especially the greenery, the architecture and the best of all - the carefree, bindaas attitude that floats around in the air. It is that feeling of freedom, of being uninhibited without any stressful thoughts meandering about in the mind.

Yet, there was something else that struck me, it was in conformance to most of the other stories that I had heard from friends and family about the natives in European countries. About how they would not speak to a visitor in English even if they did know the language in bits and pieces. It's just that we experienced it first hand! All around us, we saw that roadside signs, boards, notices, warnings, directions in metro stations etc were all in Spanish. There was no way that a person who did not know the language would ever feel comfortable exploring by themselves.

We managed very well because we did have a broken knowledge of Spanish and we were able to throw in phrases combined with hand gestures that managed to communicate what we wanted.

Cut to India. It is so obvious that English has permeated in every single city, trickling into small towns and villages too. It is very easy for the non-Indian visitors to our country to navigate around without any help [at the risk of getting fleeced by touts though] but still, it is not that they will not understand where they are going.

I am yet to understand why we need to give English so much importance in our country?

Imagine what would happen if we were to politely greet a non-Indian tourist by saying 'Maaf kijiye behenji/bhaisaab; par hum Angrezi nahi bolte'.

They would be surprised for sure, but then they'd make sure they walk around with a Hindi phrase book so as to get around without hassles. By the way it is the same case in the Middle East where I live. Everyone here speaks lots of English/Hindi/Urdu so we don't ever feel that we need to learn Arabic to survive.

Just my thoughts today. But definitely fodder for the mind. Think about it :)

Happy Vijayadashmi - Dusshera to all !! :-)

Heralding the festive month of October :)

Wishing one and all lots of happiness and love this festive season!