What to write?

Sometimes I feel like writing something, but keep thinking for a long time as to what to write, and end up not writing anything. So, this time I decided I must write about what to write, instead of just pondering and wasting time!

Now that I have started writing, I feel like the words seem to flow. I want to write about so many things, yet don't know how to put the random thoughts to meaningful words. There are so many things we come across in the time frame of a single day, and each interesting thing makes me feel I should write about it, but when I have a paper and pen that topic completely evaporates from my mind. What am I supposed to do? I wish I had a PDA to note down the topics when they crossed my mind so that I wouldn't have to rely on my RAM memory sitting in my head processing so many instructions per second that it forgets important stuff. Maybe I should write about memory and absent minded professors or PDA's and computers. But, my knowledge of both human psychology and computers is not so good that I could come up with a good write-up about either of the two fields.

I should probably write about what happened today. But, there wasn't one particular incident that I could write about for more than half a paragraph. Besides, that would be like writing my diary instead of a blog, and who wants to know that I ate a slice of pizza this evening which had such delicious toppings or that I ran to the gym immediately after to shed that extra weight.

When I see other blog sites I feel so jealous that I am not such a professional writer. I am not sure how people get topics so easily and they can write just about anything and still sound sane. Here is a poor little girl who can't even think of what she wants to write, forget about writing it right.

Well, inspite of talking so much about what to write I am still thinking what I should write about the next time!!!

Loneliness

There was a child that had every possible thing life could offer it at its age. His parents saw to it that he got the best toys, best books and best clothes, so that he could be the best amongst his friends. Everybody envied him for all that he had and all that he was. Yet, the spark in his eyes was missing and he was not as happy as rest of the kids his age. Although his parents made sure he got the best of the material world, did not understand that their separation had created a void in him which could never be filled. A child who had all the opportunities of becoming a bright young man, had been impaired by this psychological impairment called loneliness. This is not a plot for a typical movie about how some kids get into bad company or worse yet drugs.

Loneliness is a feeling everybody feels at some point in life. Some of us as kids would have experienced it since we did not have any siblings or were left alone in a hostel, some of us as adolescents who did not have a partner of the opposite sex when the whole world seemed to be partying in pairs, still some of us as adults when we couldn't find our better halves and a few of us at old age when our soulmates were taken away from us. It leaves us empty and gives a feeling of not being cared for. Isn't that the worst that could happen to us, knowing there are about 6 billion people walking on this planet and there is not one person for you. This of course joined with self-pity leads to disastrous effects.

I have heard that in some parts of the world people have resorted to befriending dogs, cats and other domestic animals to overcome loneliness, and in a few other places people are resorting to pet rocks whom they care for as their babies and talk their hearts out to them. I can't imagine how worse life could get for these people. Is it their mistake or their circumstance that they can't find a single person to talk to when there is no scarcity for humans in this world?

There are a few ways we could avoid loneliness even if we cannot make another person be with us during our low days. Diaries are best companions, which can take just about anything that we have to say to it. There is no fear of hurting it or boring it with our words. It is a good listener for people who are not lazy to pick up a pen and write down. Books come next, which have infinite knowledge to provide us. Drowning in a novel is one of the best ways to forget the world around for a while and live in an imaginary world. The Internet is probably another great invention to avoid solitude. If books can give us infinite knowledge, then the Internet can give infinite to the power infinite knowledge in a fraction of the time. Hobbies are also good ways to distract ourselves and keep us busy in a constructive way. Indulging in sports is yet another way to avoid a feeling of loneliness.

Some people claim that they prefer solitude to being in someone's company. It is understandable that everybody needs their space, but at the same time it is unfathomable to be alone at all times. Makes me wonder how such people could survive the silence and the emptiness. I am not sure if I would call it a talent or a disease to live alone. But, I would never blame them because hasn't it become a way of life in such a fast-paced world to meet so many people and yet to not know them. As the saying goes -
"In cities no one is quiet but many are lonely.
In the country, people are quiet but few are lonely."
How true...

Nightmare with Hair

One fine day I decided to get my haircut. I usually don't pay much attention to my hair since I consider it as just another part of the body, whose job was solely to grow. But, I started noticing (after a few glances in the mirror) that not only was I losing hair drastically, but it was refusing to grow too. After that incident, I decided that I must spend 5 to 10 minutes everyday with my hair, if not nourishing it, atleast talking it out of falling. In a few days it so happened that the hair was being really obstinate and wasn't listening to any of my pleas. That's when I decided it was time for me to take action on it rather than it taking action on me!

The next step was to find out who was the cheapest hairstylist in town, so that I didn't have to burn a huge hole in the pocket trying to act on my insolent hair. Having found the hairstylist of my liking, I decided to walk in when convenient for me only to realise that getting my hair cut needed a prior appointment. Phew! What a major task I had ahead of me. I finally booked an appointment for the next saturday, dreading each minute I had to spend looking at my hair, which was now giving me threatening looks. Until saturday I couldn't make up my mind which style I must go for. I was thinking of all the famous personalities from Princess Diana to Hillary Clinton, and their hairstyles. I finally decided that I should ask the beautician what would suit me rather than me coming up with something really ridiculous. Afterall as any Indian I wanted value for the buck and I wasn't paying her peanuts.

The day finally arrived and as usual I was late for the appointment. The lady was not only irritated because I was late, but I had walked in just when she was going to close. Imaginably, I did not get the best of treatment initially, but had to pacify her, and tell her my woes with respect to my hair. She finally made a decision of what would suit me and I thought it best to go with her. Quietly I sat through the operation of hair dissection aka hair styling. At the end of it, when I did look into the mirror, I couldn't recognize myself. I had layers of hair all over and no two hairs seemed to be of the same length. Well, I guess that is in vogue now. Anyway, I thanked the lady and came back home feeling happy with my triumph over my hair.

But, my happiness was short-lived. The day after the D-day, my hair again started revolting and wouldn't stay in the way it was supposed to for the particular style. It was all over my face and most irritatingly over my eyes. All my efforts of pulling it and holding it behind went wasted. I felt so helpless that I couldn't do anything about it until it grew back. That's when I realised that fighting was futile and I had to accept the way my hair was. Thus ended the Hair War!

Of Engineers and Technology!

Engineers are said to be architects of the world and make it a better place to live. After all engineers are the ones who invented wheels and brought about cars, can we imagine a world without transport in this day? They invented bulb and brought light to our lives. They invented transistor and made computers, which have now become a gateway to loads of other things. Having done all this, the engineering community is still not satisfied and now they delve into creating men of their calibre through technology. Artificial Intelligence as the name suggests is putting in our intelligence into a machine and trying to make it smarter than ourselves. It is like evolving from a dumb parent to a smarter child.

Is that intelligent or stupid time alone will tell. Haven't we seen umpteen sci-fi movies where the future holds machines invading mankind. Does that mean that we are making machines intelligent today to wipe us away from earth one day? Nanotechnology is another field growing rapidly these days. If anybody has read the book Prey by Michael Crichton, they would know how these nanoparticles could conspire against us. So, does that mean technology is a boon or a bane?

We are so intrigued not by our immediate neighbours but neighbouring galaxies and their inhabitants. The 21st century will probably see us communicating with aliens in galaxies lightyears away from us, but what about the old couple living next doors to ours who need some help during their last few days on planet earth? Have we ever seen or spoken to them, the answer is most probably NO!

How many of us in the next few years are going to remain in touch with our childhood friends? Before 19th century, people used to pay a visit to each other's house and maintained the bond, after that came the telephone which reduced visits but still had friends and relatives calling each other frequently. Now is the age of emails where we send emails to friends and await a response for a few months and after a few years the link is broken.

Life has no doubt become fast and convenient now. If there was a time machine to transport us back to the 14th century, I am pretty sure none of us will be able to survive. We are indeed indebted to the engineers for bringing about so many radical changes with all their unimaginable efforts. But, I just hope that they do not attempt to change the basic laws of life in pursuit of bigger goals.

Valley of Gods - Barossa

They say that Wine is the drink of Gods, doesn't that make Barossa Valley the Valley of Gods?
This heavenly place is situated about 50 kilometres North of Adelaide. The drive is beautiful considering the lovely landscapes Australia is blessed with. But, the drive is forgotten once you enter the realms of Barossa. Her arms lay open beckoning you to enter her and explore her to your heart's content.



The 50-odd vineyards have their own cellars and wine-tasting centres, each one exhibiting its own beauty. I got to visit a few of the famous Winemakers who supply red and white wine to the whole world, and I was surprised how much knowledge was needed in this field. Ironically, all I knew about wine was that it was made of grapes. Little did I know how much was involved in making the wine to suit the taste buds of different corners of the world.

The first vineyard that we visited was the Grant Burge. When the men were busy tasting their wines and making decisions whether or not to buy, we women were busy exploring the place. They had a beautiful park with a lovely fountain and a canopy with creepers of grapes hanging from above. The grapes were small, but tasted sweet. We took a couple of snaps and moved to the next vineyard.



The second on the agenda was Bethany. This was located atop a tiny hill. It seemed like a family of winemakers and wasn't too big. We didn't have much to see or do here. After that we headed to Chateau Tanunda which was in the place called Tanunda in Barossa Valley. This place was architecturally beautiful. The entrance made me feel like I was entering paradise through a few stairs, that led me to a lawn made for the game croquet surrounded by huge red roses staring up from their stems. Apparently roses grow well where grapes grow and hence the whole of Barossa had roses in all colors and shapes.



We wanted to try our hand at Croquet, which is a game close to golf, so we borrowed the clubs and balls from the people inside and played it for awhile. The game was quite interesting and required a lot of concentration. After a game, the men were more anxious to accomplish what they had come there for. While they were tasting the wine, we women were emptying the bowl of biscuits which was supposedly to be had alongwith the wine. The lady behind the counter was very patient and opened about 20 bottles and explained each of their speciality, the grapes they were made from, their year of picking, the particular kind of food each wine would go with etc. I was amazed by the details and realised how much attention was given to the process. Phew! If only I could make my own wine at some point.



By this time we were all so hungry and were ready to stop at the nearest restaurant for any sort of food. Luckily for me (and a few others), there was a Pizza takeway called Avanti close to Chateau Tanunda. The Pizza there was one among the best that I have ever had (considering I am a Pizza-lover). After the heavy pizza, we went to Penfolds Wines. This looked like a posh winemaker. As usual, the men were busy tasting all the expensive wines and we women were chatting away with what little we knew about wine and wine-making. After that we went to this place where they were having helicopter rides to give an aerial view of Barossa Valley. Although they charged $20 for a 5 minute ride, it was well worth it. The beauty from above was breathtaking and I didn't realise when I entered the helicopter and when I got out of it. The straight lines that the grapes were planted looked more perfect from above.

After experiencing the enchanting beauty of Barossa Valley, it was time to go back home. I had gathered a little bit knowledge about the different types of grapes and the wines they formed such as - Shiraz, Chardonnay, Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon etc. I also got to know that a few other citrus fruits were involved in winemaking alongwith oak. The taste of the wine widely depended upon the year of its picking and how much the grapes had matured. It was a common observation that men preferred red wine while the women preferred the white, I am not sure what the reason could be. The next time I had ordinary grapes, I started wondering what wine it would have become if it were not to be on my plate!

Roman Holiday

The famous saying "All roads lead to Rome" came true to me as soon as I got married! My fiance and I had planned a romantic honeymoon to Italy. It took almost a month's planning and a lot of research to get the best deals for flight and stay, not to mention that our trip was to be in the best part of European weather - Summer. In the end, thanks to Pegasus Travels, we had a fully packed itinerary for our 7-day stay in the ancient Roman Empire.

Lufthansa carried us from good ol' Chennai to Frankfurt and from there to Rome. As soon as we landed in Rome, I got the feeling that I was in a land not very different from my own country. The Airport was very similar (if not worse) to the Chennai Anna International Airport. It took us nearly 2 hours to get our baggage. We waited in anguish with our co-passengers, all of us fearing that our baggage might be lost. After that incident the Roman Experience was a very sweet one. We boarded a train to take us to our Hotel which luckily was very close to Statione Termini (which was the centre point in the city to get anywhere).



By the time we checked into our Hotel and got refreshed to explore Rome it was 6 in the evening. We decided to grab something light to munch and headed to the Great Colosseum. The aura of the Colosseum was visible to us miles before we reached it. Although we just missed the entrance time, we were amazed by the architecture that was in place since almost 2000 years. We went around the Colosseum about 2-3 times just to admire the piece of art and were totally in awe.






My husband began explaining to me about the Gladiators and how they fought to entertain the royal family. The brutality of those times sent a shiver through my spine.



The next day, we went to Fountain de Trevi. This fountain is known for visitors coming there and throwing coins into it, wishing they would come there again. We too wished and tossed a couple of coins over our heads and wished we could go to Italy again. The wish is yet to come true!



After the coin tossing, we went to the Piazza de Spagna or the Spanish Steps. There was a church at the top of the steps and a tall monument. The place was full of people relaxing and enjoying the sunny day.

What is Rome without the Vatican? Our next destination was the Vatican City which was about 20-30 minutes by bus from Rome. First we visited the Castello San Angelo which used to be a fort during war times to protect soldiers and store weapons. This was right opposite to the St. Pietro Basilica. Wonder why they built a holy place and then built a fort, my guess was to protect the church from hostile beings.



The St. Peter's Square was one of the most beautiful places I had visited in my life. I couldn't blink for the first few seconds, trying to capture the enormity and the architectural excellence of this old place of worship. It only got better on going inside. The shrine had a bird-like glass bringing in rays of light inside the church. The ambience was peaceful and gave a divine feeling. The marble sculptures felt like they had lives in them and were narrating stories from different centuries to me. The one that touched me most was the sculpture by Michelangelo of Mother Mary carrying the body of her son Jesus on her lap after he was crucified.






After admiring the interiors of the holy church we wanted to explore the exteriors and we found that we could climb 369 steps to reach the top of the Cupola and have a grand view of the Vatican City. The sight was breath taking. If only I could pause that moment forever.






The next day we visited the Vatican Museum which was close to the St. Peter's Church. There were paintings and sculptures by different artists of the 14th and 15th centuries. I was amazed by the techniques used 500 years ago that still gave the paintings a life-like look. There was a lot of attention to detail. The Cistine Chapel where Michelangelo had painted the walls and the ceiling on being requested by the Pope himself, was an eyeopener.






Rome has an ancient feel all over with the buildings, walls and even the roads reminding us of Roman empire eons ago. One such magnificent architectures is that of Piazza de Venezia. Although we couldn't find the story this building, there was an equestrian king standing tall and mighty. It looked like a memorial of some kind.



On the whole the trip to Rome gave me a satisfaction of lifetime. I sincerely hope that the wish I made at Fountain de Trevi comes true and I could go back to this historical wonderland once again!