Monday, 30 November 2015

Sub N Way

Yesterday Rayyan was reading the letters on the subway drink that he got home. Just for him to know, I asked him "Do you know what a sandwich at Subway is called?" He said no. I told him its called a 'Sub' and he immediately asked with the drink jar in his hand " And this is the 'Way'?...

Sunday, 29 November 2015

Completion letters are here!

Finally we received our course completion letter and transcripts this weekend. We were eagerly waiting for them to arrive as we can now proceed to apply for our TR visa.

Saturday, 28 November 2015

Baby Shower Basket

I made a baby shower basket of baby essentials for the soon-to-be parents Anusha and Vishwesh. It looked soo sweet and cute!
It was fun decorating and arranging all the colorful baby products in the tiny basket and moreover made us feel so very nice that a new member is going to join the league soon!
As we dont know if its a boy or a girl, I decided to go for a white color theme. I hope the expecting parents like this small gift from both of us!

Friday, 27 November 2015

Time flies!

We went to university to complete some visa formalities when the feeling that we no more are a part of this educational institute gripped us! Time has flown away soo quickly.
I still distinctly remember the excitment that all we friends had, to step back into the shoes of a student. The first sight of the university building, countless pictures clicked at different venues in the campus, first experience of an orientation week, funfilled sports,activities and so on.
Everything suddenly felt something of the past!

Thursday, 26 November 2015

Magnolia Little Gem

Magnolia Little Gem is a nice compact tree with dense foliage. It has beautiful glossy dark green leaves and big white saucer shaped flowers which are soo attractive and big in size that they capture every persons attention who passes by it.
There are a couple of them planted in our street and indeed they are a treat to the eyes in the summers!

Wednesday, 25 November 2015

Breezy Day

Today strong winds lashed Melbourne with a speed of 56km/hr. Trees were swaying left-right and pedestrians felt they would surely be flying haywire in no time! Window panes were shattering and the gushing wind seeked our attention at all times during the day.
I was with Rayyan and he curiously asked me "Where do the winds come from?" I told him they come from the ocean. He then corrected me by saying "Ocean?...No No No.. They come from the space when the moon does FOOOO......!" 
Hats off to ABC 4 Kids!!

Tuesday, 24 November 2015

Stuffed Okra

I tried making stuffed bhindi/okra in the traditional maharashtrian style last weekend. As stuffing each of the tiny okras is a bit time consuming, this veggie is occassionally prepared for everyday meals. The veggie possess a distant flavor once the stuffing becomes crispy and is rosted evenly. The best part was when the stuffing that is made out from peanuts with a blend of tastemakers releases a flavorful aroma when its about to be done!

Monday, 23 November 2015

Exhausted!

With two days of continuous sports, we have suntanned to such a level that we are asking ourselves 'Ohh is it me??!!!' That's the speciality of summers here. It was after a long break that we got to play team games and mingle with people. In all the excitment, we dint realise the outburst of energy until today.
Regardless of all this, we are waiting for the coming weekend to be on the ground for a new sport!

Sunday, 22 November 2015

Sports Carnival

Yesterday we spent our entire day at the Sports Carnival hosted by TCS Australia at Frawkner Park.
We reached there at 10am and could feel the sporty atmosphere around the park. The event managers had already setup Volleyball and Badminton nets and marked the cricket pitch. In just half an hour, people gathered in big numbers and all were allocated their team. There were 9 teams which competed with each other in every game. Of all the games, the sprint race and tug-of-war were the best ones! All of us cheered for our teams when one of volunteers said "You dont win by making a loud noise!"
Kids were engrossed in their own world doing various activities like face painting, playing relay race, eating cotton candies, popcorn and many more!
We were also served hot and nutritous lunch at the event.
We were glad to met new faces and enjoy a full day filled with outdoor activities and games.

Saturday, 21 November 2015

Rooftop swim

Me and Praveen were lucky to enjoy a swim on the 17th floor of a gorgeous rooftop swimming pool in an apartment located in the CBD. It was a swim to experience with the skyscrapers shooting up just next to us. As we were the only ones there, we felt as if we were floating on top of the world in our private warm water pool!

I missed clicking few pics of the surrounding view but it was truly a sight to remember.

Friday, 20 November 2015

Sky at its glory

Few days back while we were on our way to the city, the sky unveiled its glory with an array of subtle hues. When we hit the freeway it looked as if tiny cotton balls were hanging all over the vast blue sky.
And in the next 10 mins or so, it marvelled us by transforming into bright orange. The colours appeared as if some artist has painted dark yellowish-orange brush strokes over a grey background!

Thursday, 19 November 2015

Lexophile

"Lexophile" is a term used to describe those who are clever with words, such as "you can tune a piano but you can't tuna fish" , or "to write with a broken pencil is pointless."

A competition to see who can come up with the best lexphillies is held every year in Dubuque, Iowa. The year's winning submissions:

... A thief who stole a calendar got twelve months.

... The batteries were given out free of charge.

... A dentist and a manicurist married. They fought tooth and nail.

... A will is a dead giveaway.

... With her marriage, she got a new name and a dress.

... A boiled egg is hard to beat.

... Police were called to the daycare centre, where a three-year-old was resisting a rest.

.. Did you hear about the fellow whose whole left side was cut off? He's all right now.

... A bicycle can't stand alone; it is two tired.

... The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine is now fully recovered.

... He had a photographic memory which was never developed.

... When she saw her first strands of grey hair, she thought she'd dye.

... Acupuncture is a job well done. That's the point of it.

For people with a good sense of humor
you will like these. I did!

Wednesday, 18 November 2015

Imitating Mickey!

Yesterday Rayyan tried to imitate the expression of the Mickey mouse on his shirt and he could finally come close to it after repeated efforts!
Intially he came up with the exact expression but positioned his left hand instead of right and he felt something is wrong until he realised that all is going leftwards. 
Nevertheless, we finally could make to the right expression!

Tuesday, 17 November 2015

Sanskrit Stotras

As a child, I used to recite daily in the evenings the sanskrit stotras: Maruti Strotra, Ramraksha, Bheemarupi Stotra and the 15th chapter of Bhagvat Gita (Urdhava mulam adhah shakham). Sometime back I questioned my mom why she choose to teach me only the 15th chapter of the Bhagvat Gita when she rightly pointed that it was because that is the gist of the entire scripture. Soo very thoughtful! I decided today, to learn by heart the Navgraha Stotra which I can read in Sanskrit. Just was reading about it on Google and it seems to be a powerful stotra for the overall well-being of a person. This stotra reminded me of a humorous incidence dating back to my mom's wedding where my grandfather (mom's dad) made her recite this stotra several times because my parent's horoscopes din't match perfectly!
I am not sure on how these stotras influence a person's life because I lack the scientific knowledge on how the calculations are derived and predictions are made. But reciting these chantings regularly has immensely developed my pronunciation skills which I feel are crucial to every person no matter what you decide to be.

Monday, 16 November 2015

Perfect 'O'ranges!

Praveen picked a bag of oranges of selfsame circumference and to me appeared as if he has got a pack of plastic orange balls. The pulpy orange color of the fruit was irresitable not to click their picture!

Sunday, 15 November 2015

First Diwali

We were invited today by our family friends' Avanti aunty and Niranjan uncle to celebrate 'Diwalsan'(first Diwali as a married couple)! We drove off to their place in the evening and enjoyed a nice chit-chat in their backyard which they have recently renovated.
They have a beautiful house located in a suburb called 'Waterways' where the sea water has been channelised all around the suburb. It is Australia's only suburb to have 40% water and 20% parkland! Their house is just perfectly located to see the reflection of the dipping sun in the calm waters. It was soo scenic and left us spellbound.
Avanti aunty prepared a special dinner for the occasion. She made khavapoli, mutter rice, cabbage veggi, tomato soup and dal rice. Post dinner they both showered us with loads of blessings and wished us for a happy married life.

Saturday, 14 November 2015

Extended celebrations

We invited our friends today to join us for the extended Diwali and birthday celebrations. All of them have been extremely supportive and have helped us settle down when we were new to Melbourne, so we thought of treating them for dinner with the preparations of Paani puri, Rosagulla, Crispy Potato Fry, Methi Mutter Malai, Bundi Raita, Tawa pulao and Chapatis.
Paani puri was a hit amongst all the dishes and we dint realise when a pack of 60 was over within minutes!
We talked about a whole range of topics until late night till our friends felt they are too sleepy to head off home!

Friday, 13 November 2015

In the limelight!

Last week, I got a picture from my family of my first voting experience even before I was an year old!
I had much heard about this pic that was published in the newspaper and recall my dad saying how lucky we both were to get captured on that day leaving the rest! The news reporter had tagged the photo in Marathi as 'अधुनिक पेहेरावातील एक गृहिणी आपल्या तान्ह्या बाळाला बरोबर घेऊन प्रथमच आपला मतदान हक्क बजावताना'. I was not able to translate it exactly, but the best could be 'A homemaker dressed in a contemporary outfit casting her vote with her newborn for the first time' (I know its sounding too funny!). 
I am thankful to my grandfather who preserved this periodical cutout so that I could see it when I grow up.  

Thursday, 12 November 2015

End of Internship

Me and Praveen have been volunteering as IT Interns since last year at the Eastern Community Legal Centre in Melbourne and today we successfully handed over our work to them.
We had been working on the centres' database to add, modify and update client details and suggest good customizations to the existing CRM system to reach out to a wider client base. We felt glad that our inputs have added value to the centres' operation. Being our last working day, we delivered a training session to the staff on the changes implemented and navigated them through all the improvements that have been incorporated in the system.
They were really appreciative of our contribution and gifted us a thank-you card with beautiful messages along with a movie gift card!
We both felt a sense of achievement for accomplishing the given task competently and at the same time contented as we could offer our skills in some possible way for the community development.

Wednesday, 11 November 2015

11/11/2015

Today was a special day for us as we had three exciting things to celebrate for: Diwali, Praveen's birthday and our 8th month anniversary! It was a good coincidence to have all these three come together on the same day. The day started with Praveen receiving loads of wishes from family. Once he got a bit free, we phoned relatives and friends in India and wished them for Diwali. It was nice to hear from each one of them and get their wishes and blessings for our future! Going by the time lag between India and Australia, we just dint notice how time flew by as it was evening by then. On the eve of Lakshmi pujan, we lit up diyas and made the house get a festive feel.
I tried my best to merge the festivity with some birthday decor and carved Praveen's name on chart paper. It was looking bright and nice than what I had expected!
We baked a choc pudding cake to enjoy the evening with some other Diwali special varieties.
We thought that it would be a long day with lots if things to do but all just got over in the blink of an eye!

Tuesday, 10 November 2015

Thoughtful message

This is a true story that happened in Japan. In order to renovate the house, someone in Japan breaks open the wall. Japanese houses normally have a hollow space between the wooden walls.When tearing down the walls, he found that there was a lizard stuck because a nail from outside hammered into one of it's feet. He sees this, feels pity, and at the same time curious, as when he checked the nail, it was nailed 5 years ago when the house was first built !!!

What happened? 

The lizard has survived in such position for 5 years!!!!!!!!!! In a dark wall partition for 5 years without moving, it is impossible and mind-boggling. Then he wondered how this lizard survived for 5 years! without moving a single step--since it's foot was nailed! So he stopped his work and observed the lizard, what it has been doing, and what and how it has been eating. Later, not knowing from where it came, appears another lizard, with food in it's mouth. Ah! He was stunned and touched deeply. For the lizard that was stuck by nail, another lizard has been feeding it for the past 5 years... Imagine? it has been doing that untiringly for 5 long years, without giving up hope on it's partner. 

Imagine what a small creature can do that a creature blessed with a brilliant mind can't!

Monday, 9 November 2015

Sugary Treat

Today Rayyan's mom, Shamsun gave us a variety of delicious homemade sweets.
She made Gulab jamun, Cham-Cham, Rosgulla and Mango yogurt. All of the sweets were simply mouth-watering!
Their family hails from Bangladesh so most of the dishes are known to me but have slight different names and preparation. It is often that me and Praveen join them for dinner or other festival celebrations. We feel soo nice to have met a family who is warm-hearted and always there for us!

Sunday, 8 November 2015

Festival of lights

Yesterday night Melbourne celebrated Diwali at the Federation Square in the city and we were overjoyed to be a part of it. It was the first time we witnessed people gathering in such huge numbers for any celebration!
The event was organised by the 'Celebrate India' group and began with a fusion dance on the popular folk songs from the different states of India followed by the performance of a pop band 'Stereo Nation'.
The organisers had set up stalls of henna tattos, jewellery and snacks to give the celebration an Indian touch. The place was soo vibrant and filled with excitment that it felt as if we were roaming in a funfair! The event marked its end with everyone's favorite fireworks show for which people had come from all distant suburbs.
The surrounding festivity gave us a feel of being in India and was a good start to get us geared up for Diwali!

Saturday, 7 November 2015

How true!

Me and Praveen just loved this as it was the exact reflection of what we are and how our relationship is!

Friday, 6 November 2015

Classical Dance

With lots of free time in hand just as I have finished exams and university, I feel the days are really long! Each day I take an effort to learn something new and do something creative so that I use this valuable time to the fullest capacity. I thought of practicing classical dance 'Kathak' yesterday which I have learnt for 17 years. I started when I was just five and still recall the days when my mom use to sit there in class till I was done! This continued till I got acquainted with my teacher and the surroundings. It took me while to catch-up and I gradually started enjoying it. Since then my parents always encouraged me to participate in cultural programs or social gatherings so that I overcome stage fear. I found out a old pic of me performing at a ceremony!
As I picked up the steps, postures and footwork my teacher enrolled me for the first exam. I still remember how tensed I was on appearing for a dance exam at the age of eight! Look at this:
Every year our dance class organised an annual gathering for which we used to start practicing at least three months in advance so that we attain perfection on what we perform. Those practice sessions were my favorite as they used to be accompanied by live tabla and harmonium professionals. 
I feel myself fortunate to have inculcated this art in me since my childhood which today has taken the form of a hobby that gives me soo much positive energy to live life to the fullest!

Thursday, 5 November 2015

Rainy Day

Since yesterday evening it has been raining continuously and is expected to rain all day. With the constant rains, there is nothing much to do other than sipping hot tea and spending time reading or watching something on the laptop.
The rains today made me nostalgic of the treks that I used to go on, when I was in Pune! It used to be the same weather and a bunch of freaky friends who used to make random plans to explore new places in the rainy season. We used to pack and carry some light snacks and start-off early morning by the public transport that's convenient and centrally located to all. We used to reach the trekking site pretty early with an intention of covering most of the places nearby. It used to be an absolute pleasure to the eyes to see the lush green farms that we used to pass by. It used to be fun to get drenched in the heavy showers as we climbed and walked. Just to overcome the chill, we would often have a cup of tea when we spot a "tapri" (a small tea house). On reaching the destination, there used to be nothing more to relish than the variety of eatables that all of us used to carry. After a lots of roaming around and rejoicing we used to start our return journey.
Each trip gave us new experiences and innumerable teachings of combating unexpected situations and reacting smartly to those keeping aside our fears. I truly cherish those moments not only because they were good lessons in life but because their remembrance still binds me strongly with my friends!