I realised today with a heavy thud that i tend to hero worship very quickly. Specially authors. I read a book and love it. and when i look up from the last page i have stars in my eyes. Big Ones! Then i run off to the bookstore, or many bookstores and look for more books by the same author. I have done this with Osho, Ashok Banker, Sudha Murty, Paulo Coelo to name a few. and i have ended up reqading most of their books. And then, because i am so obssesed i start looking them up on the net, reading up every teensy weensy article on them or by them. I initiate conversations about them in social gatherings. Finally in a converstion or in an article I find something off, derogatory and in some places an opening up of Pandora's Box. Ugly stuff. But i yet make excuses for their behaviour/ character etc.
I forgot to mention, i also want to be caught up in their causes and donations. Most of the time this means i have to ask around for advice adn most times, this non informed, non newspaper reading blogger meets the "real" person.
Recently, I stumbled upon the "ugly truth" about one author i have throughly enjoyed reading. I buy all her books and loved the simplicity of her writing. Just today i realised that the man whose books potray the epitome of perfect humans, also has a side which smarts a wee bit of vengence and having been vindicated on his opnions.
As i realised this i felt downcast and black. I really felt personally let down.
As I shut the article and tried to, once more make mental amends for this persons writing, i realised that i am the one who is completely wrong. Every man, and woman is human and therefore completelyt open to practice the vices we are born with. So - why am I pushing them on top of a mantle and insisting they sit there?
The better thing for me to do, is read their books, forget their names and then relegate them to austere positions, talk about them with awe without remembering their names or looking them up for more information.
These people, these authors pass on great range of knowledge and very interesting facts and ideas. why the devil do i want to devilise them with my hero worship?
Friday, December 24, 2010
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Cologne 4711
all my childhood i smelt 4711 cologne everytime my granddad hugged me! today i entrered the shop and went quite batty and at the same time aslo heard that my g dad lost his younger brother! some things in life are forever and some are not!
last night was really cold. my teeth were chattering and my bones were rattling. madhur and me walked to the car and madhur was looking around with wild fear in his eyes! he later told me that he thought a ghost was sliding out of the dense foliage, rattling chains and all! it was only me! and serves him right, getting this scared || who asked him to leave the car door open for so long!??
we arrived by train to cologne! easy journey! we had to drop the care we had rented to Karlsruhe from where we caught a train to cologne! it was the crawl in the true sense of the word. my 1 and a half year old neice and nephew have jsut learnt to walk they would have put the German autobahn drivers to shame!
dinner today was spicy and my heart is at peace.. much as i like italian and gourmet stuff my heart yearns for spice. madhur is worst than me! another day of the food we were eating i am sure he would have had a shot of the red chilly flakes were always carry = in water!
off to london tomorrow!
and looking forward!
A Soothing Day
Started with a drizzle. Stopped. We left for a long walk. Rained
again. Long walk became a short one. Huddled in a very very cute cafe
overlooking the enormous and multihued (black?) forest. Had beer and
beer and food and finally the black forest slice of cake. And walked
back in the steadily increasing rain. Its been a soothing day so far.
Dinner was in a hotel called Barreise lovely. Three drinks later our
conversation was fairly unmentionalble.
We drove back at a good 120 kpmph. It's fabulous driving here.
Drivers keep a disciplane of staying in their lane. Even the 16
wheelers with cargoes ranging from cars to guneia pigs stay
consistently and intimately in their own lanes. And because of an
Indian mentality we tend to slow down by a few deca kilometres per
hour but it's not needed. They stick to their lane and expect us to
stick to ours.
Fairly non vocals day really.
We leave this gorgeous area for cologne and to London from there. One
legmof journey completed.
A holiday forever embellished in my heart and soul.
again. Long walk became a short one. Huddled in a very very cute cafe
overlooking the enormous and multihued (black?) forest. Had beer and
beer and food and finally the black forest slice of cake. And walked
back in the steadily increasing rain. Its been a soothing day so far.
Dinner was in a hotel called Barreise lovely. Three drinks later our
conversation was fairly unmentionalble.
We drove back at a good 120 kpmph. It's fabulous driving here.
Drivers keep a disciplane of staying in their lane. Even the 16
wheelers with cargoes ranging from cars to guneia pigs stay
consistently and intimately in their own lanes. And because of an
Indian mentality we tend to slow down by a few deca kilometres per
hour but it's not needed. They stick to their lane and expect us to
stick to ours.
Fairly non vocals day really.
We leave this gorgeous area for cologne and to London from there. One
legmof journey completed.
A holiday forever embellished in my heart and soul.
Another Day
It was a pleasant enough day and I mounted on a beautiful cycle and
zoomed off feeling extremely pleased with myself- till like a hotshot
I cycled down and never cycled back up. I walked up panting tough!!
And I saw few human cyclists cycling up terrain and I wanted to stop
them and offer a leg massage. My muslces could take it but damn it my
lungs wanted to explode my heart rate had escalated to cardiac arrest
stage and I did not know what to do other than sit on ten road side
and feel very sorry for myself.
We went off for lunch and in this blistery wintery days spent quite a
few moments searching for loos. But I must say all loos, public or in
restaurants were clean and well maintained. Very impressed. Can u
imagine gping to a "sulabh sauchalaya". I should not point fingers
because three are pointing back at me - saying " hello u are Indian
and the mess is a part of your doing "
Today we drove down to Baden Baden. Bloody fancy town! I remember my
parents talking about their impromptu trip and blowing their budget to
bits.
Dinner was with Madhur's colleagues in a back of the back centuary old
castle. N we felt like kings of the castle because we were the only
ones there for dinner. Great ambience crap food! Chocolates to the
rescue.
After dinner drinks. - have been seeing s couple since yesterday
smoking like all the chimneys put together in black forest winter
months. Wanted to show them my black shirt and explain that here is
the colour of your lungs!!
A kid walked in and stole my heart. Music was live (and good) and this
five year old cat of a dude, in black suit trapezed down the stairs on
the dance floor and was side stepping and salsaing across to his
table. He kept dancing and shaking his shoulders and hands and tapping
his legs till his completely besotted and smiling father led him to
the table. Even later as I kept looking at him he was swinging to the
music comp,tee,unable to resist himself.
Reminded me of my brother and much later my son. Both have music taped
their feet.
zoomed off feeling extremely pleased with myself- till like a hotshot
I cycled down and never cycled back up. I walked up panting tough!!
And I saw few human cyclists cycling up terrain and I wanted to stop
them and offer a leg massage. My muslces could take it but damn it my
lungs wanted to explode my heart rate had escalated to cardiac arrest
stage and I did not know what to do other than sit on ten road side
and feel very sorry for myself.
We went off for lunch and in this blistery wintery days spent quite a
few moments searching for loos. But I must say all loos, public or in
restaurants were clean and well maintained. Very impressed. Can u
imagine gping to a "sulabh sauchalaya". I should not point fingers
because three are pointing back at me - saying " hello u are Indian
and the mess is a part of your doing "
Today we drove down to Baden Baden. Bloody fancy town! I remember my
parents talking about their impromptu trip and blowing their budget to
bits.
Dinner was with Madhur's colleagues in a back of the back centuary old
castle. N we felt like kings of the castle because we were the only
ones there for dinner. Great ambience crap food! Chocolates to the
rescue.
After dinner drinks. - have been seeing s couple since yesterday
smoking like all the chimneys put together in black forest winter
months. Wanted to show them my black shirt and explain that here is
the colour of your lungs!!
A kid walked in and stole my heart. Music was live (and good) and this
five year old cat of a dude, in black suit trapezed down the stairs on
the dance floor and was side stepping and salsaing across to his
table. He kept dancing and shaking his shoulders and hands and tapping
his legs till his completely besotted and smiling father led him to
the table. Even later as I kept looking at him he was swinging to the
music comp,tee,unable to resist himself.
Reminded me of my brother and much later my son. Both have music taped
their feet.
A Traveling Day
We woke up to extreme weather. Snow clad trees, car frozen and carpets
of snow on the side gardens. We had to scrape the car and cajole it to
start. But before that we took a horse carriage to the castle. Sweet
experience. We sat with our legs covered in blankets ( smelt my jeans
when i kept smelling horsy smells in the car - it's in the wash as we
type) and slowly tread up took some photos and zoomed off in the car.
Almost! The traffic jammed us everywhere and today Madhur's driving
compared to the horse carriage guy. Slowly plodding on!
But when we arrived in Black FOrest the plodding seemed worth it's
weight in hay.
The hotel is situated in the midst of the top of the valley. Our room
overlooks mountains, forests and valleys and the sweetest houses I
have ever seen.
Stayed back in the hotel for dinner. Seven course meal if u please and
was obviously severly underdressed. Do I look lile I care?
Our next table neighbours were a couple with kids. The woman kept
looking At me. She would jut back her head, straighten her back and
plast a huge smile on her face. It was bloody eerie. When I told
Madhur about it he asked me to smile back as eerily but unless I
smeared ash all over my body, held a skull in each hand and swung my
body in circles mumbling and chanting randomly, I could not have
mimicked her.
We went for a walk after. The valley the roads, pavements, trees,
fields, houses, windows, meadows, grass everything was bathed in
moonlight. I felt an epiphany coming.
We are one one side of the mountain. The other side was half blocked
by a moving sphere of cloud. The bottom of the mountain was covered
with white transulcent clouds and the top looked like it was floating
in thin air. A sight I h ave never ever seen. And bathed in moonlight
it looked heaven sent and amazingly special.
So far this holiday has been special. And today the sight made me
realized that special moments are to be grasped. They don't fall in
your lap.
Appu
of snow on the side gardens. We had to scrape the car and cajole it to
start. But before that we took a horse carriage to the castle. Sweet
experience. We sat with our legs covered in blankets ( smelt my jeans
when i kept smelling horsy smells in the car - it's in the wash as we
type) and slowly tread up took some photos and zoomed off in the car.
Almost! The traffic jammed us everywhere and today Madhur's driving
compared to the horse carriage guy. Slowly plodding on!
But when we arrived in Black FOrest the plodding seemed worth it's
weight in hay.
The hotel is situated in the midst of the top of the valley. Our room
overlooks mountains, forests and valleys and the sweetest houses I
have ever seen.
Stayed back in the hotel for dinner. Seven course meal if u please and
was obviously severly underdressed. Do I look lile I care?
Our next table neighbours were a couple with kids. The woman kept
looking At me. She would jut back her head, straighten her back and
plast a huge smile on her face. It was bloody eerie. When I told
Madhur about it he asked me to smile back as eerily but unless I
smeared ash all over my body, held a skull in each hand and swung my
body in circles mumbling and chanting randomly, I could not have
mimicked her.
We went for a walk after. The valley the roads, pavements, trees,
fields, houses, windows, meadows, grass everything was bathed in
moonlight. I felt an epiphany coming.
We are one one side of the mountain. The other side was half blocked
by a moving sphere of cloud. The bottom of the mountain was covered
with white transulcent clouds and the top looked like it was floating
in thin air. A sight I h ave never ever seen. And bathed in moonlight
it looked heaven sent and amazingly special.
So far this holiday has been special. And today the sight made me
realized that special moments are to be grasped. They don't fall in
your lap.
Appu
A Crazy Day
I dreamt of taking off at 180km per hour on perfect roads.... And the
dream was shattered-well almost. The Car rental screwed up and we did
not get the car we wanted. Even after booking it a month in advance. I
must say, the German way of expressing regret sounds a little
insincere. Ok I am being polite. Very insincere. So we had to settle
for a smaller car (after walking all over Munich to all other car
companies. ) and having to go and buy our own navigation system. And
thank god for that. The German word for exit sounds like a hearty
fart and we would have been wandering all over the villAges and
breweries (not such a bad idea) had we not had our handy Garmin in
proper English voice of a lady called Emma.
But drive we did. At 140 Km. "this is your pilot Madhur speaking..,,"
kind of driving!
Te drive was beautiful with snowy alps far away. Sweet smiles and oohs
and aahs! Hello!! The place we were to visit -the Neuchwenstein
Castle was where all the snow was. White sheets of frosty frothy snow.
All over he place. And. I made the mistake of getting out of the car
without a jacket. How the hell was i know it would freeze me in place
and Madhur would have to rub my back and hands to get me moving again.
How cud it be so cold when the sun was shining so brightly I was
seeing only orange.
My ears froze, I froze and my nose fell off. I bought a new one.
German technology!!!
And the castle was closed. Apparently Germans are also scared of
driving in snow and ice. So the ghosts of the castles had a field day.
Nobody was allowed to go and disturb them.
We are now staying in a hotel below the castle and watching the snow
kissed trees (some are snow raped) and having loads of alcohol.
--
dream was shattered-well almost. The Car rental screwed up and we did
not get the car we wanted. Even after booking it a month in advance. I
must say, the German way of expressing regret sounds a little
insincere. Ok I am being polite. Very insincere. So we had to settle
for a smaller car (after walking all over Munich to all other car
companies. ) and having to go and buy our own navigation system. And
thank god for that. The German word for exit sounds like a hearty
fart and we would have been wandering all over the villAges and
breweries (not such a bad idea) had we not had our handy Garmin in
proper English voice of a lady called Emma.
But drive we did. At 140 Km. "this is your pilot Madhur speaking..,,"
kind of driving!
Te drive was beautiful with snowy alps far away. Sweet smiles and oohs
and aahs! Hello!! The place we were to visit -the Neuchwenstein
Castle was where all the snow was. White sheets of frosty frothy snow.
All over he place. And. I made the mistake of getting out of the car
without a jacket. How the hell was i know it would freeze me in place
and Madhur would have to rub my back and hands to get me moving again.
How cud it be so cold when the sun was shining so brightly I was
seeing only orange.
My ears froze, I froze and my nose fell off. I bought a new one.
German technology!!!
And the castle was closed. Apparently Germans are also scared of
driving in snow and ice. So the ghosts of the castles had a field day.
Nobody was allowed to go and disturb them.
We are now staying in a hotel below the castle and watching the snow
kissed trees (some are snow raped) and having loads of alcohol.
--
Day two
If CCTV has captured me, then they have most certainly posted shots
(mug) all over their store! I entered the most enormous sports store
with the most enormous floor dedicated to cycling. And as I stepped
off the elevator I just stood there grinning, with stars shooting out
off my eyes and people backing up behind me climbing the last few
stairs of the elevator again and again, like a stair trainer in a gym.
And I kept grinning to myself and shaking my head in wonder and so the
CCTV operators think they had a lunatic in the store.
And I bought myself a pair of boots so now I can kick some serious ass!
We visited "the English Garten". We were told to take a cab and good
thing too. Why do things look so close in the map ? It was beautiful
but had we not looked around for an exit route before we started
exploring we would have got lost. Sure there were huge maps extolling
the virtues and beautiful planning of the English Garten - all in
German. So much for the name.
But it was beautiful. In summer it fills up to the brim with people
sitting in benches in the open air gulping down beer after beer. Today
it was lonely with autumn leaves falling a few dogs barking and many
people running. We walked to the river and went "so cute!" over the
ducks. But seriously they were.
Lunch was amazing. I now want to pull down all meat eaters as the
biggest sinners treading on earth.
Last evening we visited the local market and simultaneously slammed
our heads for not walking he extra five minutes and settling for a
pizza originating in China!
We retuned to the hotel, our lips wet (it was raining- we were not
salivating!). So lunch was tzatzaki, hummus, pepper and olive
tapinade, herbed olives, artichokes, cheese, herbed feta all with a
hunk of bread. But hey! Don't thank the Germans! These were not the
Aryan ka descendents!
Evening we spent wowing the great shops along the street and made a
few of them richer!
A few whiskies pre and post (again excellent dinner!) later, we are
ready to take off to see some castle tomorrow! Don't ask me which
one, they all sound grand to me right now.
Appu.
(mug) all over their store! I entered the most enormous sports store
with the most enormous floor dedicated to cycling. And as I stepped
off the elevator I just stood there grinning, with stars shooting out
off my eyes and people backing up behind me climbing the last few
stairs of the elevator again and again, like a stair trainer in a gym.
And I kept grinning to myself and shaking my head in wonder and so the
CCTV operators think they had a lunatic in the store.
And I bought myself a pair of boots so now I can kick some serious ass!
We visited "the English Garten". We were told to take a cab and good
thing too. Why do things look so close in the map ? It was beautiful
but had we not looked around for an exit route before we started
exploring we would have got lost. Sure there were huge maps extolling
the virtues and beautiful planning of the English Garten - all in
German. So much for the name.
But it was beautiful. In summer it fills up to the brim with people
sitting in benches in the open air gulping down beer after beer. Today
it was lonely with autumn leaves falling a few dogs barking and many
people running. We walked to the river and went "so cute!" over the
ducks. But seriously they were.
Lunch was amazing. I now want to pull down all meat eaters as the
biggest sinners treading on earth.
Last evening we visited the local market and simultaneously slammed
our heads for not walking he extra five minutes and settling for a
pizza originating in China!
We retuned to the hotel, our lips wet (it was raining- we were not
salivating!). So lunch was tzatzaki, hummus, pepper and olive
tapinade, herbed olives, artichokes, cheese, herbed feta all with a
hunk of bread. But hey! Don't thank the Germans! These were not the
Aryan ka descendents!
Evening we spent wowing the great shops along the street and made a
few of them richer!
A few whiskies pre and post (again excellent dinner!) later, we are
ready to take off to see some castle tomorrow! Don't ask me which
one, they all sound grand to me right now.
Appu.
Our trip to Germany 19th Oct tp 3rd Nov 2010 DAY ONE
While we waited at the lounge for the flight to be announced, Madhur
went out for a few min and came back with a lopk on his face I have
never seen. Very excited he told me he met sachin tendulkar and VVS
laxman and then he kept telling me about them.
Once we checked in I understood the look of complete hero worship on
his face. Those guysnhad the personality of achievers. Fit bodies and
an aura of conquests.
And then we reached Beer - eh sorry German! ( The word Germany brings
in front of my eyes frothing mugs of heady beer. )
And I almost turned back. It was cold. I really have a healthy
respect for all human beings who have to tolerate the chills of winter
every single year of their lives.
Luftansa is amul cheese in comparison to top quality local quark or
for better comparison French Camembert. Heed all ye" travel only Jet.
Good ole indian "atithi devo bhava"
Enroute to hotel the scenery was lovely. Fallen leaves and the rest
which were left on trees were a riot of reds browns and beige with
some greens fighting for attention. It made me feel better and I
missed my sweaty Mumbai odor a little less.
Everything looked fabulous until we laid eyes on our lunch. Whoever
wrote in lonely planet that Germany was never known for it's gourmet
abilities deserves a few thumps on the back. ( they also said things
are changing now! And the hotel we arevstaying in has a one star
restaurant (as the concierge very tightly informed us , peering over
his glasses, when we enquired about restaurants around the city).
So coming back to our lunch - mass of floury pizza dough with blobs of
tomato purée and a mountain of cheese. Cheese almost as thick as the
dough. I am sure the cheese was masking something smelly inside. Few
small slivers and I called it the end of my Meal. In such places I
a,ways wish i was a meat eater, those who do look So happy. Needless
to say we Had to make up with a good wholesome dessert!
The rest of the evening of course went in tasting all the beers
munchen (Munich, yaar) is famous for. Therefore u see ll the typos and
spelling mistakes!
Now if I don't sleep I will type doubles! G nite
Appu
went out for a few min and came back with a lopk on his face I have
never seen. Very excited he told me he met sachin tendulkar and VVS
laxman and then he kept telling me about them.
Once we checked in I understood the look of complete hero worship on
his face. Those guysnhad the personality of achievers. Fit bodies and
an aura of conquests.
And then we reached Beer - eh sorry German! ( The word Germany brings
in front of my eyes frothing mugs of heady beer. )
And I almost turned back. It was cold. I really have a healthy
respect for all human beings who have to tolerate the chills of winter
every single year of their lives.
Luftansa is amul cheese in comparison to top quality local quark or
for better comparison French Camembert. Heed all ye" travel only Jet.
Good ole indian "atithi devo bhava"
Enroute to hotel the scenery was lovely. Fallen leaves and the rest
which were left on trees were a riot of reds browns and beige with
some greens fighting for attention. It made me feel better and I
missed my sweaty Mumbai odor a little less.
Everything looked fabulous until we laid eyes on our lunch. Whoever
wrote in lonely planet that Germany was never known for it's gourmet
abilities deserves a few thumps on the back. ( they also said things
are changing now! And the hotel we arevstaying in has a one star
restaurant (as the concierge very tightly informed us , peering over
his glasses, when we enquired about restaurants around the city).
So coming back to our lunch - mass of floury pizza dough with blobs of
tomato purée and a mountain of cheese. Cheese almost as thick as the
dough. I am sure the cheese was masking something smelly inside. Few
small slivers and I called it the end of my Meal. In such places I
a,ways wish i was a meat eater, those who do look So happy. Needless
to say we Had to make up with a good wholesome dessert!
The rest of the evening of course went in tasting all the beers
munchen (Munich, yaar) is famous for. Therefore u see ll the typos and
spelling mistakes!
Now if I don't sleep I will type doubles! G nite
Appu
Our trip to Germany 19th Oct tp 3rd Nov 2010 DAY ONE
While we waited at the lounge for the flight to be announced, Madhur
went out for a few min and came back with a lopk on his face I have
never seen. Very excited he told me he met sachin tendulkar and VVS
laxman and then he kept telling me about them.
Once we checked in I understood the look of complete hero worship on
his face. Those guysnhad the personality of achievers. Fit bodies and
an aura of conquests.
And then we reached Beer - eh sorry German! ( The word Germany brings
in front of my eyes frothing mugs of heady beer. )
And I almost turned back. It was cold. I really have a healthy
respect for all human beings who have to tolerate the chills of winter
every single year of their lives.
Luftansa is amul cheese in comparison to top quality local quark or
for better comparison French Camembert. Heed all ye" travel only Jet.
Good ole indian "atithi devo bhava"
Enroute to hotel the scenery was lovely. Fallen leaves and the rest
which were left on trees were a riot of reds browns and beige with
some greens fighting for attention. It made me feel better and I
missed my sweaty Mumbai odor a little less.
Everything looked fabulous until we laid eyes on our lunch. Whoever
wrote in lonely planet that Germany was never known for it's gourmet
abilities deserves a few thumps on the back. ( they also said things
are changing now! And the hotel we arevstaying in has a one star
restaurant (as the concierge very tightly informed us , peering over
his glasses, when we enquired about restaurants around the city).
So coming back to our lunch - mass of floury pizza dough with blobs of
tomato purée and a mountain of cheese. Cheese almost as thick as the
dough. I am sure the cheese was masking something smelly inside. Few
small slivers and I called it the end of my Meal. In such places I
a,ways wish i was a meat eater, those who do look So happy. Needless
to say we Had to make up with a good wholesome dessert!
The rest of the evening of course went in tasting all the beers
munchen (Munich, yaar) is famous for. Therefore u see ll the typos and
spelling mistakes!
Now if I don't sleep I will type doubles! G nite
Appu
went out for a few min and came back with a lopk on his face I have
never seen. Very excited he told me he met sachin tendulkar and VVS
laxman and then he kept telling me about them.
Once we checked in I understood the look of complete hero worship on
his face. Those guysnhad the personality of achievers. Fit bodies and
an aura of conquests.
And then we reached Beer - eh sorry German! ( The word Germany brings
in front of my eyes frothing mugs of heady beer. )
And I almost turned back. It was cold. I really have a healthy
respect for all human beings who have to tolerate the chills of winter
every single year of their lives.
Luftansa is amul cheese in comparison to top quality local quark or
for better comparison French Camembert. Heed all ye" travel only Jet.
Good ole indian "atithi devo bhava"
Enroute to hotel the scenery was lovely. Fallen leaves and the rest
which were left on trees were a riot of reds browns and beige with
some greens fighting for attention. It made me feel better and I
missed my sweaty Mumbai odor a little less.
Everything looked fabulous until we laid eyes on our lunch. Whoever
wrote in lonely planet that Germany was never known for it's gourmet
abilities deserves a few thumps on the back. ( they also said things
are changing now! And the hotel we arevstaying in has a one star
restaurant (as the concierge very tightly informed us , peering over
his glasses, when we enquired about restaurants around the city).
So coming back to our lunch - mass of floury pizza dough with blobs of
tomato purée and a mountain of cheese. Cheese almost as thick as the
dough. I am sure the cheese was masking something smelly inside. Few
small slivers and I called it the end of my Meal. In such places I
a,ways wish i was a meat eater, those who do look So happy. Needless
to say we Had to make up with a good wholesome dessert!
The rest of the evening of course went in tasting all the beers
munchen (Munich, yaar) is famous for. Therefore u see ll the typos and
spelling mistakes!
Now if I don't sleep I will type doubles! G nite
Appu
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