The play of weather

The weather started transforming a week or so back. From bright sunny, hot days to foggy mornings, tender sunlight in the afternoon and chilly evenings. With the weather changing, i feel a whole new potpourri of feelings, energy and emotions storming my mind and heart. I must say, i do enjoy this bittersweet change in the weather of my mind & soul. As its a bittersweet feeling, i have things I love and hate about this beautiful Fall, because it refreshes a lot of beautiful & uneasy memories from the past.
I love this weather as it reminds me of the foggy Delhi mornings, and warm afternoons, when me and my mom would amble down to the market. Me and my brother M would sit on the rooftop while Mom would get a colorful plate of winter Salad to relish.
I love the sip of hot steaming ginger tea complemented with Pakoras on a rainy day, and just watching television adds with M. It reminds me how far I am from home and my family, and makes me nostalgic. The falling of leaves bring the memories of the flying cotton meshes from the huge cotton tree in my school. Not just Delhi, this weather also brings another place very close to my heart, alive in my mind. It takes me to the chilly dull evenings when i used to walk on Monroe Street to the campus. And the weekends, spent in the Library, looking out of the window of Wendt while studying. Ofcourse, the basement lab , where each semester was a different project and thus a different memory.
I can write infinite words about the past, but in a nutshell, just go out and let the weather do its play on you. It will take you across a huge ocean of bittersweet feelings, if you leave your senses open and offer your mind and heart as an empty slate.

Journey

Me and Madhubala set off on a long journey on Saturday early morning. It was still dark when we left the house. I saw the most beautiful shade of blue between the San Jose hills on 680N. It was the blue before the sunrise, mild and soothing. The drive was through some very beautiful places. The tiny dunes covered by luminous brown grass on both sides of the highway was followed by the green Shasta County. There was the blue Shasta lake, tall pine trees and the gigantic Shasta mountain. Shasta peak is so fascinating that i could have spent hours just staring at it in awe. Highway 97 goes all around the Shasta exposing 180 degrees view of the mountain. As soon as i crossed into Oregon, i was welcomed by the huge Klamath Lake along the highway. The view was simply breathtaking. After a long but exciting drive of over 8 hours i reached my final destination, Crater Lake National Park. Crater Lake was formed several thousand years ago when Mount Mazma collapsed after a volcanic eruption, into a crater. Over years, rainwater, melted snow accumulated in this crater, forming the deepest lake in United States, Crater Lake. I was stunned by the "bluishness" of the lake. A 33 mile rim drive that goes around the lake shows you the lake from every angle. I did the rim drive and was patiently waiting for the Sunset at Watchman Point that overlooks the Wizard Island , when black clouds gradually started flooding the sky. I had to drive another one hour from there to get to Prospect where i was staying for the night.
I had a spooky experience at the hotel restaurant where i was the only person by myself, and either i was over conscious or many people were really looking at me strangely. I had the most delicious hot chocolate and the most distasteful salad in dinner which happened to be the only vegetarian item on the menu.
Next morning, i got up and drove to the lake to see the sunrise from the crater lake lodge, and did the rim drive loop one more time through moist woods, fragrant air, and splendid views of the lake. The return drive was equally beautiful, although i was quite tired as it was a long 500 mile drive back home. But overall a great experience, and a nice time to just go and explore a place on my own. For those of you who are wondering about Madhubala, that happens to be the means to go on the road, the car :-)

Idle Saturday Morning

Most of the past weekends, I have been upto something. Usually something outdoors on atleast one of the days. The previous one being a long weekend was fun with some hikes, food and sightseeing. But time just flies! Before i know it would be the end of 2009 and time to wish happy new year 2010. Last night was a relaxed Friday night by myself, i read for a while and then caught a flick on Netflix. Sometimes doing things without any aim, hurry or plan is kind of fun, although i am not used to it. How much ever we plan and try to squeeze out of life on a day to day basis, life is so dynamic, keeps running out of our hands.. That is what is beautiful about life, each moment of it forming memories....Don't you agree? This reminds me something i came across in the novel i was reading last night, definitely worth a mention and a moment to ponder over, some food for thought:

"In order for the true energy of love and life to penetrate your soul, your soul must be as if you had just been born. You should not try to imprison that energy. Its difficult to do because that energy gets blocked by all kinds of things: commitments, children, social situation..."

Mango Week

I bought 2 large mangoes on Sunday, a colleague at work gave me another bigger one to try the next day. To finish these 3 ripe mangoes, i have been celebrating a personal mango festival this week. Any cooking that i did this week has revolved around the mangoes. Mango Raita, mango rice, mango dessert. However, i still maintain my stand on the best mangoes in the world , Ofcourse none other than our Indian Alphonsos. They are out of this world!
P.S. any mango dish (which is not a dessert) tastes delicious with mango, tomato & red chili combination. Like mango rice, mango raita, mango curry.

His melodies continue to captivate

His melodies are as if the lark singing. They can fill the driest hearts with romance. Even decades after inception, they are as fresh as the first rain. They enchant you immensely and no language is needed to comprehend them. These protean and beautiful compositions continue to drown many even today. Any words in his praise are just not enough, he is none other than the legend himself, Mr. R.D. Burman.
Reward yourself by listening to any of his all time hits:
http://www.rhapsody.com/rd-burman/unforgettable-melodies-hits-of-rd-burman

Things worth fighting for

All over the world, countries, communities, organizations, cults and people are fighting for issues ranging from Nuclear Weapons, piece of land, religious beliefs, wealth, power and the list goes on. Most of these issues might look petty when we see some of the extreme situations prevailing in the world in different regions. For instance, the penury which peaks in parts of Africa and Asia, the intolerance in many countries where innocent people are murdered for not following the conservative beliefs, the violation of human rights to an extent that can appall even the toughest men, children not being educated or being misled at an age when they are incapable of deliberating right and wrong, people dying because of the lack of medical facilities and basic hygiene. Some of the things really worth fighting for and history has remarkable examples for these:
-Freedom: Every human is born with this right, although not all of them live it. Some are unfortunate to be born in territories where due to the political or civil conditions they are denied this right.
-Education: Nothing more to say about this, education promotes rationality and survival in the world.
-Live without fear: Every human should be able to live without fear from another human or group, irrespective of his religious , traditional, scientific beliefs.

Its a shame that not every person living on this planet gets to enjoy these basic rights, and we are quite fortunate to be born or living at a place where we are enjoying much more than these basic rights.
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Why

Air France plane crashed into the Atlantic killing 228 people. Sudden astronomical loss of innocent human life. It leaves the mind just baffled & full of anguish. Imagining what those people would have felt in the final moments is just impossible. Such disasters, whether human triggered or nature triggered are no different. In the end , they just leave a group of mourning individuals. When i was looking at the beautiful sunset today, i was just thinking , i wish those 228 people could have seen this sunset if this disaster wouldnt have happened. Life is so ethereal, there is no guarantee of the very next second for any of us, so what exactly makes "what I call, our short stay on this planet as a collection of atoms & molecules weaved into a bodily form" substancial? I dont have an answer for this, and neither is there any justification of sudden disasters, killing innocent individuals. That is the intangible mystery of life and it goes on....