3 more days to go and this decade will be over just like that! Has the life increased its pace these days or is it just an illusion?

This year-end too, like all past year-ends, I am hoping that, in the new year, I will somehow find time to learn a new language or a new cuisine, listen to more music, laugh more, read more and do things that I love to do.

But year-end, unlike all past year-ends,there is an extra awareness about death. Nothing morbid about it, just a consciousness that there are a lot of things that I need to do before death catches up with me and unless I go about it in a determined way, I will not get them done.

As if to further cement my resolution, I came across 2 couplets about the same:

जिन्दगीके दाम इतने गिर गये, कुछ गम नही
मौतकी गिरती हुई किमतसे घबराता हू मै
-- नीरज जैन

क्या भरोसा है जिन्दगीका
आदमी बुलबुला है पानीका

What more can I say?

अर्ज किया है......
दीमक लगी लुगातसे खफ़ा होके एक दिन
मफ़्हुमकी तलाशमे अल्फ़ाझ जायेंगे

(Forwarded)

लुगात - Dictionary
मफ़्हुम - Meaning

I ate my first "Ice Gola" last weekend! I am not kidding you. When I was a kid, mom had given strict instructions of not venturing within 5 miles of the vendor selling the stuff outside the school. My brother and I were warned that the Gola might contain parasites and germs which would then grow inside our stomachs. And though I agree that the ice and syrup might not have been made from clean water, I feel sorry for my brother and I because we swallowed the idea of an alien monster bursting out of our stomachs - hook, line and sinker!

The "Ice Gola" vendor in the mall, however, had a board saying that both ice and syrup were made from mineral water. I hoped that the board was telling the truth and went for it. I can't say that I have become a fan but it sure was fun to bite into the crunchy ice and slurp on the syrup (strawberry in my case!).

I must confess though that when I chanced upon the channel showing "Alien Resurrection" last night, the alien baby being born did bring forth visions of the "Ice Gola" vendor outside our school :-)

One more Indian city has got added to my "1000 places to visit before you die" - Patna. The reason for the same is Sunday evening episode of "Highway On My Plate" (NDTV Good Times). I seriously want to find out what this dish called "लिट्टी" is all about. There was one gentleman in the roadside eatery that Mayur and Rocky went to. He told them that he was going to Guahati from Gwalior when he heard about this place and dish. He got off the train and came to the hotel to sample the dish. Hats off to the chap!

Well, talking of food, I like Rachel Allen's new program on food "Home Cooking". Oh, and the Grand Finale of "Masterchef India" would have been great if they could have done away with all that emotional stuff and Katerina's "Sheela ki Jawani". Why, oh why, do we bring Bollywood in everything that we do?

Merry Christmas!

Hark how the bells,
sweet silver bells,
all seem to say,
throw cares away
Christmas is here,
bringing good cheer,
to young and old,
meek and the bold.

Wish you all a Merry Christmas! :-)

Merry Christmas!

Hark how the bells,
sweet silver bells,
all seem to say,
throw cares away

Christmas is here,
bringing good cheer,
to young and old,
meek and the bold.

Wish you all Merry Christmas! :-)

अर्ज किया है......
हमारे शहरमे बेचेहेरा लोग बसते है
कभी कभी कोई चेहेरा दिखाई पडता है

(Forwarded)

Good Night Folks and Take Care!