New Additions to the Living Room

It's been an awesome Sunday. It started with a long, adrenaline pumping, beautiful cycle ride into the outskirts of city (40 Kms). Five of us started at 5.30 am in the morning and completed the 40 kms within 3 hours and only one pit stop. Nothing like cycling on weekends to break the drudgery and to get those sleepy body cells active again.

Early morning start

40 kms on the road

Next on my agenda this Sunday was a bit of furniture shopping.

Gradually and slowly I have added some unique pieces of furniture to my new home. Latest additions to my collection are these vintage teak wood chairs and an beautifully crafted glass table.

The chairs are comfortable, sturdy and elegant looking. I need some appropriate size cushions to complete their look.

 The table, made entirely of glass has added a bit of drama to my otherwise boring living room. The stem of the table coils up like human DNA making it very eye catching.

Another addition was a wooden table crafted in the shape of an elephant.

Love the metal detailing on the table.

My living room furniture is a heady mix of contemporary and vintage pieces and somehow they fit in very well together.

Happy with my new additions and happy that this was a Sunday well spent!

YEY TO NEW BEGINNINGS !!

The first few weeks of June have been very testing, not just for me but for everybody around me as well! It's been a month which has broken my comfort zones and of many I know. The only comfort that can be derived from all this is from the lines,' Change is for the better!'

For me, at a professional level major organizational changes in my company have demanded that I step into a new role. I took up the challenge with mixed feelings. I am excited about learning a whole new field of work and expanding my work profile but at the same time there is nervousness about fitting in and meeting expectations. On  weighing the options of sticking on to my previous profile (which I can confidently say that I have a good grip on) versus moving on to something new and very coveted at this point had me in a fix for sometime but in the end my thirst to experiment, explore new territories and test my own capabilities got the better of me. After all , I never want to turn back at a lost oppurtunity and say, 'What if?'

My dear friend R, has decided to leave his small little apartment which had been his abode for a good number of years for something more spacious in Mumbai. As he beings this arduous journey of finding himself a little space in the city of skyscrapers, the situation has been complicated by Rain Gods. Mumbai experienced heavy rainfall in the past one week making the sea waves rise to a good three feet and flood the streets. The traffic come to a virtual standstill. Murphy ' s law at its best!

And history repeats itself! My little cousin sister, D, is all grown up now , ready to enter college. Coincidently she decided to take up my stream ,  medicine that is. The  coincidence doesn't end there cause she even qualified and chose the same college  as mine. As she prepares for the new chapter in her life and sends a volley of wassapp updates and images from the college, I get this strong urge to be with her there! Indeed the time spent at the college campus was a period I remember very fondly and which I am very proud of.

Yey to new beginnings cause they bring with them much excitement,  butterflies in the stomach and uncertainty to what the future holds! The beauty of life lies in its unpredictability!

The Quirkiest of May!

While I was sipping on my cold coffee on a summer afternoon of May , I read about a rather weird yet hilarious offer being made! A young lawyer from Kenya, offered to marry US President Obama ' s daughter who is just sixteen for fifty cows, 70 sheep and 30 goats. 

The fellow professed his immense love for her and also suggested that once she moved to his village after marriage he teach her how to milk a cow, cook ugali (a starchy dish) and prepare mursik (a sour milk). This by far was the quirkiest news of the month of May for me. Of course it made for great coffee time gossip and brought out a smile on everybody's face whenever it was discussed.

I can't say any in about the genuineness of the proposal being made here but one thing I can can say for sure that in today's day and age of globalisation and technology all it takes to be world famous is a little bit of quirkiness!  The lawyer from Kenya became a rage world over as the news about his offer spread like wild fire across the international media!

Image from Google (lawyer on the left and Obama daughter Malia on the right).

As if this was not enough another quirk that started doing the rounds in May was that the devastating earthquake that struck  Nepal , a small country adjoining India, was blamed by some Indian politicians on religious offence of eating beef and cow slaughter by the people of Nepal.

 Image from Google (Nepal Earthquake)

Nepal experienced  the worst earthquake in decades , which was 7.5 on the richter and lead to much destruction and death of thousands of people. However some insensitive politicians had to give this tragedy a communal flavour and blamed this event on the wrath of Gods. The cow is considered sacred in the Hindu religion and Hinduism is the dominant religion both in India and Nepal. Thus a few fanatics had to blame this tragedy on the slaughter of cows taking place in Nepal to meet the beef demand. This was happening even though geologists had given detailed explanations about the reason for the earthquake. There is really no end to superstitious belief and the manipulation of people's sentiments by politicians.

Image from Google (Nepal Earthquake)

Last but not the least, Maggie , a noodles brand in India which has been a favourite of millions for ages was found to contain very high levels of lead and monosodium glutamate. These high levels are not fit for human intake and therefore the product was banned country wide. However the moot question here is that if Maggie noodles which is such a common brand that it is available on the shelves of practically every grocery store and is marketed by a very well known brand i.e., Nestlé could violate the food safety rules like this then what is the status of the other lesser known products. Really there is a need to beef up our food security laws, here in India.

                                        Image from Google