Antara Echoes

Flowers were strewn everywhere, the holy fire still smoldering in the havan a little away and amidst the small gathered crowd, they sat. She sat tugging at the coconut with both her hands while he trying to withhold the fruit escaping from his grasp...It was the nelangu function or the wedding games between the newly weds. More so a kind of amusement for the guests who are waiting for the lunch to be served. "Whatever was I thinking at that moment?" wondered Sharanya. "I was supposed to be this demure shy bride and instead I seem to be wringing the coconut as though my life depended on it! Thank god for small mercies, at least my valiant efforts are not showing in my face." "Sharanya Manni, I had bet Rajeev that you would win at the nelangu function. I lost Rs.100 on your account" Sanjiv was grinning sheepishly. They were sitting watching their marriage DVD on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Quickly coming out of here reverie she caught Kishore looking at her qui...

New Kind of Road Rage Beams at Bangalore Bangalore is a city that grew too fast for its own good. Traffic has always been a burning issue here for some time with newspapers and celebrities crying themselves hoarse at the BMC to get the infrastructure in place. Bad roads, rainwater filled potholes and bumper-to-bumper traffic has made driving around as hell as it can get. And the adverse side affect of heavy traffic jam has been road rage. Road rage refers to all criminally violent behavior by a driver of an automobile, which thus causes accidents or incidents on roadways. May not be accidents every time but even rude gestures & verbal abuse surely has its own deterimental effects. Signs of Road rage - · Speeding and Aggressive acceleration · Honking unnecessarily · Tailgating · Cutting others off · Mandering in and out of traffic · Forming a "convoy" to block access to a traffic lane · Sounding the vehicle's horn or flashing lights excessively · Rude gestures (such ...

Of all the trips a person takes in his lifetime, very few can have such an impact on one's life than being transported to a mental asylum. Especially when one is completely sane. There you sit at the traffic, watching people all around going to office, mall, school or whereever it is people keep travelling to & fro while another whole realm of reality awaits you, a few miles away. "That's exactly what I want him to go through!" thought aloud Supriya, as she beat the eggs in a one-quart casserole. "What?" asked Narain, looking up from his morning newspaper. "You seem to be murmuring quite often these days Supree. Whatever is the matter with you?" "Oh nothing, here comes your breakfast" said Supriya hastily tossing the omlette alongside the waiting toast. She quickly added the bowl of fruit sitting ready on the tray and placed them in front of her husband.Giving a quick apologetic smile she walked towards the refrigerator to get out his...

Dining etiquette quotient? huh, Now what's dat? The world has sure shrunk and cross cultural awareness has reached the dining table. So lets go beyond the cut-chew-swallow basics and look at some dining ettiquettes around the world, shall we? Dining Etiquette in Germany - It is good etiquette to remain standing until shown where to sit. - Table manners are continental - fork in left hand and knife in right. - Do not begin eating until the host signals to do so. It is bad etiquette to rest elbows on the table. - Try and cut food with the fork as it compliments the cook by showing it is tender. - Everything should be eaten on the plate. - Indicate you have finished by lying the fork and knife parallel across the right hand side of the plate. Dining Etiquette in Japan: - The guest of honour sits at the centre of the table furthest from the door and begins first. - Learn to eat with chopsticks [no pointing with them, dont pierce food with them] place them on the chopstick rest when tak...

My first post in november comes late by a week. So wats magical about November to award it a complete post by itself? Well if you ask me, nothing special at all. Just thought I'll start my first post-for-the-month by listing a few unusual "days" for the month. But a little research tells you that we are going to practically be celebrating most of the days in November. Yippee! So we have : - Hug a Bear day! on Nov 7th - Pickle Appreciation day - Leftovers Day (followed but-obviously by..) - Throw leftovers Day - Forget-me-not Day comes on the Nov 10th - Childrens day in India is celebrated on the 14th of Nov - America Recyles Day falls on November 15th - World Hello Day - Pencil Day - Toothpast day - Saturday November 25th 2006 is "Buy Nothing Day" ..whew!, and so the list goes on. Oh! ofcourse, there are also the - Thanksgiving & Guy Fawkes days & Guru Nanak's Birthday. So its going to be a busy month ahead. Wishing you all in advance a "Happy ...

Am back home, tired and weary So has it travelled miles, the coffee berry Seeds of coffee, blended, mixed, & filtered Aroma of which, makes my mind careen unfettered Swirl a little storm, dark & brown And leaving behind a smile, is my frown

U may… Think not like me Don’t say…. How it is supposed to be Please, Try not to judge me Pray… Set your thoughts free Let me be For I am ‘Me’

Visited this awesome place called Pondicherry about a month or so ago. It was a memorable trip indeed and it had all to do with the place. Won't rave more about Pondy as there are umpteen websites & blogs which do the same. Will instead give all details need to take a drive to Pondy. Destination: Bangalore-Pondicherry Route Bangalore-Hosur-Krishnagiri- Chengam-Tiruvannamalai-Gingee-Tindivanam-Pondicherry Distance 340 km At Krishnagiri take a left leading towards Chennai and within about half a km you got to take an immediate right. Keep a lookout for the sign else you can miss it. Why drive?: The roads are fantastic, well maintained and not much of traffic. Better than going via Chennai. Enroute Stopovers Tiruvanamalai is a holy town replete with ashrams, temples & holy mountains. The gigantic Arunachalam Mountain makes an awesome view. Chenji Fort falls between Tiruvannamalai & Tindivanam and is worth a brief stopover. Fuel Stations Hosur, Krishnagiri, Chengam, Tiruva...

It had been a hot afternoon for August. The windows of the car had been rolled down to freely admit the cool breeze accompanying the dying sun. The campus was lush green amidst the glass buildings & rows of indicabs lined up neatly along the tarmac awaiting their first set of passengers. “Nagappa, have you got a bottle there?” hollered Raju, walking up to him. Nagappa sat upright inside his cab and readjusted the seat into an upright position. “Nann Magane, so soon you are looking for a bottle eh?” he smirked picking up the half filled Bisleri bottle from the back seat and handed it over to him. Gulping down the warm water thirstily he fumed,“ They are going to be changing the routes once more. This new manager guy is no good. Ravi, our 895 (cab no.) was saying that security guards would soon be accompanying us in every trip we make. Baddi nann maga, one stray incident and they think we all are murderers.” Nagappa digested this new piece of information without offering any comment...

Madhavi was born during the week she had viral fever. Left alone at home by her working parents, with only the maid for company, she made the PC her best friend. Madhavi was the online persona she had created to amuse herself till she could get better and go back to her hostel & friends. As a joke she sketched Madhavi as complete anti-thesis of herself. So was born Madhavi a shy introvert with long hair, dark eyed & with a dimpled smile. Getting on to a popular chat room she was deluged with chat offers from various people and she felt on top of the world. Soon she found herself chatting with a captain from the Indian Army who was extremely charming with a great sense of humor. He rarely seemed to cross step the line of decency yet regaled her with interesting anecdotes and soon completely encroached on her attention. His subtle sense of humor made her laugh while his worldly intelligence had her awed. She told him stories of her college life & friends without revealing mu...

A travel article written by me gets published in Rediff . ************* We continue our reader-driven getaway series. Swetha Iyer suggests a trip to Sanasar in Jammu and Kashmir if you are looking for a quiet holiday . When it is not casual travel, but a real vacation that you are looking for, try Sanasar, located just about 17 km away from the famous hill resort of Patnitop. My husband and I decided to visit Sanasar in Jammu on the advice of a friend. Jammu might evoke images of gun-toting policemen, riots amidst snow-topped mountains, but no place is more peaceful than Sanasar. Tall trees, cool breeze, scenic pastures stretching to the horizon -- it is heaven unexplored! Sanasar is all about stretches of green meadows under clear blue skies, huge conifers and pines, sparkling brooks, locals grazing their cattle and horses... It is completely enchanting. So if you are looking for a quiet holiday, head to Sanasar. This place also provides opportunities for paragliding and the area is ...

This is an Indian Student's experience overseas. This is posted not with a view to take this forum into the depths of faith & religion. But why do Hindu's run away from anything that truly represents us? Why do we confuse about being secular and being a doormat? Is it wrong to let the world know we are not one racist country which has only a sati system; caste system and dowry practise to showcase? But that's what is being protrayed. Read on: Hinduism still being misrepresented in schools world wide: >This is a letter from Fourteen year old Trisha Pashricha. She studies in a school in Houston Texas. It reflects not only the ignorance of the average American, but also reflects the arrogance of the educational authorities of that country. Every religion, barring Christianity is looked down upon, demeaned, distorted, defamed. Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism and Buddhism invite particular scorn. Read on... "It's 8:00 a.m., and students slowly trickle into Mr. West...